


How to Train Your Monster (SU x HTTYD)

by Dimonds456



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: (I’m dead serious actually though there are a few changes), Corrupted Gems, Corrupted Steven, Corrupted Steven Theory, Corrupted diamonds, Crossover, Diverges off of canon, Dragons, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, How to Train Your Dragon AU, Hurt/Comfort, Main character Connie Maheswaran, Sorry this fic is taking so long to write! I swear I’m not done with it!, Steven Universe AU, bubble buddies, connverse - Freeform, fluff/angst, lots and lots of Connverse, mc connie maheswaran
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:08:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25395142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dimonds456/pseuds/Dimonds456
Summary: Dragons were rumored to be real. People all over the globe have claimed to see them, or have even been attacked by them, but to the Maheswarans, they were no more reality than Bigfoot. But when they move to Delmarva, they realize that maybe some rumors are true...Starring Connie Maheswaran as the main character, this AU takes the base concepts from How To Train Your Dragon and applies them to Steven Universe! Diverges off SU canon, though with a few concept/rule changes, and a story that mashes together the best from both series, including some new content!Inspired by chapter 54 of Templeschool by @Stargazer19!
Relationships: Bismuth X Pearl, Bispearl, Connie X Steven, Connverse, Greg Universe x Rose Quartz, Greg x Rose, Pearl x Bismuth, Pink Diamond x Pearl, Rose Quartz x Pearl, Ruby X Sapphire, Ruphire - Relationship, Steven Universe x Connie Maheswaran, Steven x Connie - Relationship
Comments: 44
Kudos: 54





	1. Prologue

Connie was 11 years old when she moved to Beach City, or well, nearby to Beach City. She had been the quiet, shy, awkward kid who loved pretending to be a part of fairy tales, rescuing the royal from peril and battling monsters on the way there. She imagined that she knew how to swing the fine tip of a sword, or launch an arrow with such a precision, she’d be known throughout the world. She would done armor, or at the very least a backpack filled to the brim with survival necessities, and everything she would need to survive out on her own should the need arise would be there, at her fingertips. Maybe she’d meet a familiar, or an animal friend, and they would bond the moment one proved worthy to the other.

She didn’t expect any of those fantasies to become reality, of course. Those dreams were limited to being daydreams and daydreams only. Real dreams were ones like fixing their broken society, or saving the planet, both things she wanted to do but wasn’t sure she had the confidence or skills necessary.

All of that changed when the Maheswarans moved into Delmarva, and Connie’s daydreams became harsh reality.

Connie was 11 years old when she first saw a dragon. Well, dragon was an odd word to use, if fitting. The term the locals here used was “corrupted gem,” or “gem monster.” But each and every one of them looked and behaved like a subspecies of dragon. They donned horns and tails, with long muzzles filled with sharp teeth. Their wings flared, different colors, patterns, sizes and shapes creating a rainbow of terror, coupled with the occasional stinger or extra set of legs, sometimes even extra wings! Most breathed fire, some breathed water, others spat amber, almost all of them flew, and every last one was feared.

It wasn’t like some kind of secret here that dragons existed, and news had spread to other parts of the world, but most dismissed it as rumor or folklore. But those who believed and wanted to catch a beast for themselves were turned away at Delmarva’s door by citizens, which is where almost all corrupted gem activity was.

Rumors spoke of attacks, mostly at night or late evening, when the dragons would show up in swarms and fight. They’d steal food and- sometimes, rarely- people off the boardwalk, destroying local businesses and raiding the local attraction, Funland. The nearby towns there had been there since pioneers first set foot on American soil, but almost every building was new. Locals all knew the basics of rebuilding entire houses, and most did it for free, as a sort of charity to other locals going through the same things they were. People were tough, but nice enough, the circumstances being what they were. After all, it’s the locals who had to learn how to battle these beasts, to not get themselves or their homes taken away.

The Maheswarans did not believe the folklore of the area, and Connie’s mother, Priyanka, was always quick to point out all the flaws in the Photoshop edits of the supposed Dragons of Delmarva. Even when dragon activity leaked into other nearby states, or even as far as the other side of the world, it was all fake in her eyes. Doug, Connie’s father, was quick to agree, insisting that monsters only existed in fairytales, which by definition, were fake.

So there was absolutely nothing to worry about except normal, real-life problems, like taxes or school tests or actually making friends.

Once the family had moved into their new home nearby to Beach City, they were quick to get jobs. Dr. Maheswaran began working at a hospital a town down, while Mr. Maheswaran took up security guard duty at a few different places, deciding to rotate between them as needed. So while her mom and dad were busy, Connie read, and dreamt. Her book that day had been about a regular bookworm like her getting caught up in a curse with a prince. The prince had been transformed into a hideous beast, and only love could break the spell. It was a classic everyone knew, and a story she had practically memorized, but she loved picturing the story anyway, sometimes imagining herself in that role instead- what she would do different, how she would try to find a way to break it, could she possibly be the one to break the curse? She supposed not, but it was always fun to dream.

But when Dr. Priyanka Maheswaran said dreams like those were for sleeping, then that’s what they were. So it was a bit of a shock when Dr. Maheswaran came home that night, telling stories of patients that had been hurt or worse by real, actual, dragons swarming the boardwalk. And Mr. Maheswaran came home with proof of his own, detailing scars on people there, people who were brushed by death and _lived._

They were not fairytales, and very much real.

Why didn’t the Maheswarans move away again? They were needed here. The doctor made it her mission to try and heal those hurt by the attacks, while Doug insisted that he learn how to fight back, too, and protect these innocent people. And Connie… well, she wasn’t sure what to make of all this. To her, it all still sounded fake. It wasn’t, she knew it wasn’t, but her brain couldn’t wrap around the fact that some rumors are true, even the more terrifying ones. So she found herself not too worried about it. Corrupted gems, gem monsters, and gem dragons? Those were see-to-believe things, and so far, she had seen none.

Of course, not all gems were corrupted. As the Maheswarans quickly realized, gems themselves were an entirely different species in an of themselves. The nearby town of Beach City even had one as its leader, a stoic maroon woman that went by the name of “Garnet.” Garnet was often accompanied by two others- a tall, pale one by the name of Pearl, and a short purple one who went by Amethyst- and they acted as the town’s first line of defense when attacks came.

Connie was 11 years old when she met Steven Universe. He was kind, extroverted, completely blind to other’s flaws and insecurities, lifting others up like it was second nature to him. He would often be seen after the fight, repairing damage on other’s homes and businesses, checking in with people and making sure everyone was okay, and if they were hurt, he’d stop at nothing to get them the help they needed.

Although he was all smiles and the locals all seemed to at the very least _respect_ him, Connie found him intimidating. Not because he was scary, mind you, but because he was so loved. She was the quiet, shy, awkward kid who always hid in her room, or in a secluded spot while in public, to read. Steven seemed to be the polar opposite.

Besides, Steven was apparently one of the gems, too. He had been training with them for years on how to fight and “poof” the corrupted gems, and was growing to be quite a force to reckon with. No matter how wild his curls were, or how wide his grin split his face, or how happy those eyes could make anyone feel, he was strong, and one day, Connie found that out for herself.

* * *

It was such an odd encounter that day. Connie had been reading by herself on the beach, far from Beach City, where her dad was currently operating as security for Funland. Her mother was off tending injuries at the hospital, and Connie was left to her own devices. Her favorite book _Unfamiliar Familiar_ in hand, she thought it was peaceful here. It was a beautiful day, and the soft lapping of waves on the shore and the accompanying cries of seagulls made for nice background noise. There were no monsters, and there was no danger.

Her reading was interrupted as she heard a crash. Looking up, she saw the kid in the red star shirt, Steven, toppled over in the sand, rolling out from under his tipped bike. He shook the sand out of his hair, then noticed her looking at him. His face went red. He looked at the bike, then screamed and ran off back down the beach from whence he came.

Odd.

A few moments later, he dropped by again, but this time, he had procured a bubble around the two, stopping falling debris from landing on Connie’s head. She hadn’t even noticed it. She blinked, trying to get a hold of her situation. He introduced himself almost proudly as Steven, to which she shakily replied with her own name. He helped her up, and for the rest of the day, they hung out.

Inside a bubble.

Because he didn’t know how to dismiss it.

It had been quite the adventure trying to get the thing to go away, and it had lead to both of them getting catapulted into the ocean, where they had spent a while walking around, trying to get back to shore. The sea life was beautiful, Connie had to admit, but the pressure above her head was overwhelming. She couldn’t stop scanning for danger, no matter how much Steven insisted it was fine and he had the whole situation handled.

After a while, the kid noticed her discomfort. He stopped rolling the pink, impenetrable bubble for a moment, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. He met her eyes worriedly, brows creased with concern.

“Hey, are you okay? You look worried.”

Connie nodded, looking away. “Well, I mean, we’re at the bottom of the ocean-“

“Oh, that?” Steven chuckled. “Connie, I told you, it’ll be okay! We’ll get to the shore and-“

“No! It’s not!” Connie didn’t mean for herself to get angry at him, but she couldn’t help it. Did he even realize how much danger they were in?! They could drown, or get lost, or starve, or die of thirst! “We’re lost out in the middle of the ocean, an ocean filled with monsters and dragons, and we could die out here, and you don’t know what you’re doing!” She glared at him, tears brewing in the corners of her eyes. “Stop saying it’ll be okay! Because right now it isn’t okay! And it’s not getting better!” She broke down into tears, openly sobbing now in front of a boy she barely knew, in an unfamiliar ocean, completely unnoticed to be missing. “I’m going to disappear without making a single friend, and no one except my parents will even know I’m gone.”

Steven blinked at her, not expecting her to do this. He looked off to the side, made a decision, and huffed. He knelt beside her, putting his hand back on her shoulder. “I… I’m sorry,” he murmured. “You’re right. I don’t know what I’m doing. But I’m trying to get us home, and positivity has always worked for me. I thought it could help you, too. I’m sorry I didn’t realize sooner. This is my fault.”

Connie wiped her eyes, giving him a small smile. “Forgiven, as soon as we get home safe.”

Steven relaxed, letting out the breath he was holding in. “Fair enough.”

He stood again, holding out a hand for her to take. Her smile widened just a bit, and as she reached for it, she was reminded again of fairytales. This boy was magical, and she was ordinary. He was a hero on a quest, or an adventure, and she just became a part of his story. A side character, main character, or one-off character she wasn’t sure, but it felt good knowing that, maybe, she had a chance to live out a fantasy like that.

And that’s when the fairytale monster came crashing onto the scene.

The dragon was big, colored a vibrant orange with darker stripes down its back like a tiger. It had large, blue eyes, elongated horns that twisted around like a tidal wave, and a long, thin neck. This, coupled with its pelican-shaped head and large body (with tiny legs), made the neck look almost pencil thin. On its chest was a round-looking jewel embedded in its skin.

The creature swam up to them, using its wings and dorsal fin to flap steadily closer, gave a wail, and chased them.

Both children screamed and started booking it in the opposite direction, hoping the shore was nearby and they weren’t as doomed as they looked. Heroes had to go through these kinda of trials, didn’t they? And sometimes bystanders got caught up in the mix. Connie just happened to be that bystander.

“What IS that thing?!” Connie shrieked, running as fast as she could. She turned to look over her shoulder, watching as surprisingly dull teeth drew ever-closer.

Steven mimicked her action, giving the creature a once-over. “I-I don’t know, but it’s a corrupted gem of some kind!” He yelled back. His eyes widened, and suddenly, he moved left. Using the bubble as leverage, he barreled straight into Connie, holding her tight, knocking them and the bubble out of the way as the dragon’s maw closed over the space they were just in.

By chance or fate, they ended up in a cave-like area. The bubble rolled to a stop, Steven’s grip on Connie not loosening until the sounds of the gem’s roars were gone. Even then, he didn’t let go of her, just slackening his grip and sliding his hands down from her forearms to her hands.

“Is it gone?” Connie, breathless, asked. She couldn’t stop staring at the cave opening, expecting a giant head to appear suddenly and swallow them both whole.

Steven followed her gaze, scanning the entrance. “I think so.” He turned back to her, that same concern from earlier fresh on his face. “Are you okay?”

Connie nodded. “You?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.” Steven held her gaze for a second longer, before realizing they were still holding hands. He glanced down at them, face running red once again, as Connie’s did the same. They shared an embarrassed look before both pulled away quickly, laughing and chuckling together. This was silly.

After a moment of just letting their unease slip away, Steven cleared his throat. “So… to the beach? I still need you to forgive me.”

Connie laughed again. “If you’re ready, so am I.”

They put their hands on the bubble and began to push once again. They stopped by the cave entrance to have a look around, and upon seeing no monster, both sighed in relief. Steven turned to Connie, about to say something, when suddenly, their air supply vanished. The bubble popped, and both children’s minds filled with panic. Steven immediately grasped Connie’s wrist, pointing up towards the surface. She got the memo, and both began paddling for safety.

When they broke the surface, there was still no sign of the monster. The two gasped for air, and after a second of letting what just happened wash over them, Steven threw up his hands.

“WE DID IT!” he yelled excitedly.

“Did what, survive?” Connie shot back jokingly. The kid’s grin was contagious, and she caught it quickly.

“Yes!” Steven threw his hands down, lightly splashing Connie. She shielded with her hands, giggling, before splashing him back. The two shared another round of cheerful, innocent laughs, before finally swimming back towards the shore.

Turns out, they weren’t that far out. The cliff that marked Steven’s beach house home loomed over the water, and as they drew closer, Connie could make out what appeared to be an eight-armed woman sitting peacefully there, carved into the stone and holding up the house, the cliff, and what appeared to be a line of clothes.

It looked just like a fantasy setting.

Something made noise from under them. The kids froze, Connie in fear, Steven more in curiosity. While Connie tried to continue to paddle to shore, Steven ducked his head under the water, trying to make out what had made that noise. After a second, he came back up, pointing frantically beneath them.

“Connie Connie Connie!” he exclaimed. “It’s the gem! The dragon from earlier!”

Connie paled. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s-“

“No, wait, hold on a sec.” Steven frowned at the waves, trying to see through them, and when that didn’t work, his head went beneath the salt water once again, this time lingering longer. When he came back up, he was grinning. “You need to see this,” he beamed.

Connie gave the water a fearful glance, but the short kid in the red star shirt’s optimism and excitement were contagious, so of course her head went under, too. Her eyes stung as they hit the waves, but her curiosity had her willing to open her eyes to see whatever had the kid so giddy.

Beneath them, the dragon gently and placidly flapped along, scanning the ocean floor for something. It stopped in front of what appeared to be a purple, flower-shaped coral, which upon touching it, glowed a soft lilac light. Once it began to glow, the creature reared back and bit down, swallowing the thing whole.

Connie’s eyes went wide. She snapped her head up, panting hard. Steven had already resurfaced, smiling a gigawatt grin that split his face in two. He didn’t seem to notice that Connie had not had the same reaction he was having, and continued throwing his arms up, as if in victory.

“Did you see that?” Steven squealed.

“Yeah…” Connie replied, not sure how to answer.

“So cool, right?” Steven looked back down, as if he could still see the dragon through the waves. “It was eating the glowing flower-coral things once they lit up! It was just hungry for glowing things! That’s why it chased us!”

Connie could only stare at him. _That_ was why he was so excited? “It wanted to eat your bubble because your bubbles glow, right? That’s what you’re telling me?”

“Yes!” Steven’s eyes were alight like stars.

Connie shook her head in disbelief. “It tried to _eat_ us, and you’re happy about that?!”

“What?” Steven’s look fell into one of confusion, until he put two and two together on why she wasn’t happy about this knowledge. “Oh.” He rubbed at the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “Uh, yeah, that wasn’t fun. But the good news is it won’t chase us so long as we’re not glowing!” His massive smile was back, and once again, he threw his hands up in the air. “We’re safe!”

Oh. That was a relief to hear. Connie forced herself to relax, assured for the moment that she could trust him. “Okay, if you say so.” She shot a softer look into the water, though her distrust of the monster was still evident. Besides, if it decided to eat them, there wasn’t much she could do to protest.

The two continued to swim, and after a while, Connie found herself growing tired. The shore didn’t look that far, why was it so hard to get there? It had been steadily growing larger, too, meaning they were making progress. The eight-armed stone goddess carved into the cliff was a welcoming beacon, for which Steven was making a beeline. Connie followed closely, determined not to fall behind.

While she swam, she let her mind drift to auto pilot. What on earth was she going to tell her parents tonight? That she saw one of the dragons and lived? There was no way they’d believe her. Besides, if they did, what good would it do? They’d just never let her out of the house again except to go to school and back. Nope, this was going to stay a secret; the monster and the boy.

Once, Connie had made friends with another shy kid at school. His name was long forgotten to her, but she remembered getting along with him okay enough, for as little as they were. First grade, maybe, possibly second? Didn’t matter. Connie came home that night, gushing about the boy she had made friends with at school, and immediately, her father started teasing her about it. There was no malicious intent, he was just goofing with her about how she was in _looooove_ , and they were going to get _maaariiiiied_ someday, but since then, Connie couldn’t bring herself to enjoy his company anymore. It was always awkward, as she had felt pressured by her parents to do just that. She knew it was all a joke, she did, but that didn’t stop her from being awkward around her betrothed friend.

She would not let the same thing happen again. Side character in his story or not, her parents were never going to find out about this boy or her adventure with him.

A quick glance over at Steven just confirmed this for her. If she told her parents she met someone nice, they’d want to meet him. And he was certainly not accustomed to the norms of human society, being raised by gems and all that. So respect was out of the question. And if there was no respect, then her parents- more specifically, her mother- wanted nothing to do with that particular individual. And Connie found herself drawn to Steven’s personality, his kindness and optimism, and wanted to hang out with him more. Maybe. Assuming they lived to touch the sand again.

She shook her head, focusing on the repeated strokes of her arms through water. She had started falling behind slightly, and was determined not to get lost behind him.

Turns out, she didn’t need to worry about that. Steven had come to a stop, waving his arms in little circles around him as he hovered in place. He peered down, searching for something, eyes squinted and strained.

“What is it?” Connie asked, swimming closer to him.

He didn’t get a chance to answer before a roar sounded beneath them, the same from earlier. The kids looked at each other in fright before Steven’s head was underwater again, scanning for the dragon. He popped back up again quickly, eyes wide.

“Connie, _SWIM!”_ he shouted, reaching out to grab her hand. That wouldn’t do anyone any good, so Connie moved that hand forward to begin swimming back.

Energy restored, adrenaline rushed through her body as Connie shot towards shore. But, she was still slower that Steven, who was probably stronger than her. He lived next to the ocean, so maybe he swam a lot? Made sense. Either way, he was gaining ground.

But the beast in the water was MUCH faster. It roared again, this time directly beneath them. Steven whirled around, realizing that Connie had fallen behind, and dove back for her. He grasped her hand as another bubble formed around them, blooming like a flower. It was half filled with water this time, and the two kids had to continue to keep their heads above even with the added protection.

Something hit them from underneath, sending the bubble rocketing towards shore. It hit the water and bounced a bit, rolling up onto the sand before popping again. Water rushed out and around the children, who were once again gasping for air. Connie laid on her back, trying her best to sit back up, while Steven groaned on his side. He coughed and sat up, immediately looking to Connie.

“You okay?” he asked again. “Are you hurt?”

Connie coughed, pushing herself into a hunched sitting position. “No? How about you?”

Steven opened his mouth to reply when the beast broke the surface of the ocean, roaring. Screaming in unison with each other, the kids leapt to their feet and ran together. The bubble once again formed.

Steven paled. “No no no no, go away! It eats glowy things!” He shot the pink encasing a hard glare. “Come on!”

The beast saw the light, narrowing its eyes in their direction. It zoned in, letting out a snarl and giving chase. Its large set of wings wasn’t just used for swimming, apparently, as the serpentine lifted into the air, closing the distance between itself and its prey.

Connie’s eyes darted around, searching for a place to hide. There was a dock nearby, where it couldn’t get them without causing massive destruction, so they could try to hide there. If the beast went after them, the locals would hear, and then the beast could get taken care of.

Connie began darting in that direction, catching Steven by surprise. “Steven, the docks!” she shouted, hoping he’d get the message. She continued running, but found it suddenly much harder. She turned around to see what the problem was, only to see Steven staring up at the dragon, eyes wide,

It loomed over them, giving them a hard, animalistic look. It reared its head back, showing off the jewel on its chest once again, but didn’t attack. But it was tensed, poised to do so any second now.

“Steven,” Connie whisper-yelled at him, “come on! We gotta move!”

But Steven didn’t budge. In fact, after a second, he took a step closer to the beast, raising a hand up to it. He was trembling in fear, but that didn’t deter him at all from whatever he was trying to do.

Connie tried pushing the bubble on her own, but found she couldn’t without Steven’s help. She whirled back to him, eyes wide. “Steven, what are you _doing?!”_ She continued to lightly yell at him. “It’s going to eat us!”

“Hang on, Connie,” Steven whispered back, hand fully stretched out now. “I don’t think it’s gonna hurt us.”

Connie blinked once, twice, before looking up at the dragon once again. Although its head was still reared back, it seemed… calm, almost curious. Steven’s arm stretched out to it a bit more, and the beast slowly lowered its head down. It blinked at him, tilting its head to the side. It flared its nostrils, trying to scent him, and in response, the bubble vanished.

Connie’s heart seized for a second, but she forced herself to calm down. She began instead to slowly back off towards the docks, trying to slip away unnoticed in case the gem monster attacked.

Steven seemed to notice, for he shot her a look that said ‘don’t worry, I got this,’ before reaching up to the beast once again. It lowered its head, giving him a proper sniff this time, then let out a soft coo. It brought its head close enough to touch, and Steven cautiously placed his palm on the dragon’s cheek. When it didn’t react, he began to pet it, growing more and more giddy.

He turned back around, stars in his eyes again. “Connie, Connie come here. Are you seeing this?” He pointed at the dragon with his free hand. “It’s not gonna hurt us.”

Connie, who had hid behind a large rock halfway between the beast and the docks, peered out. She noted that the dragon seemed to carry no aggression toward the boy, and took in a breath. She started approaching it, hand stretched out. The dragon saw her coming and gave her a sniff as well, but was satisfied with whatever it was looking for and let her touch it, too.  
This wasn’t a vicious beast; it was a creature acting on survival instincts. It never wanted to hurt the kids, well, once it was aware they were there, anyway.

Steven’s grin could not waver. “When you saw us in the water, you probably just wanted to come over and see us, didn’t you?” he spoke to it, almost as if he were talking to a dog. “Then I made the bubble and you saw food again. You never wanted to hurt us at all.”

“Woah,” Connie felt herself relax at his explanation. It made sense, didn’t it? Nothing ever just attacked for no reason. She let out the breath she was holding, but frowned as a realization hit her. “Wait, Steven,” she began, moving her hand along the beast’s jaw, “what about the dragons that attack the boardwalk? Do they actually do that? I haven’t seen that yet.”

“Oh, you’re new here?” Steven patted the gem creature’s cheek, to which it gave a happy growl. “Yeah, it happens at least once a month, but usually more.”

Connie’s frown deepened. “Well, do you know why they attack us? This one just thought we were food, and then was just curious about us. Nothing in nature attacks for no reason, right?”

Steven’s eyes widened. He looked away, thinking for a second, before a shout cut him off.

“THERE! THE BEAST HAS TWO KIDS!” someone cried out.

There were yells as suddenly, the locals appeared. Five or six humans, along with the three gems who ran the town, appeared over the docks. Each one had a weapon of some kind, though one with curly yellow hair instead held up a video camera and seemed to be narrating to it.

The tall pale one- Pearl, maybe?- let out a gasp. “STEVEN! Get away from that thing!”

A whip appeared, wrapping itself around his body and flinging him away and towards the safety of the other humans and gems on the docks. The purple gem- Amethyst?- dispelled the weapon, leaping down in front of where he had just hit the sand.

“Don’t worry, dude, we’ll take care of this for you. Get somewhere safe!” Amethyst commanded him. She then ran off towards the dragon, Pearl and Garnet(?) doing the same.

The dragon, sensing the danger it was now in, narrowed its eyes. It raised its head, roaring at them, before using its head like a golf club and batting Connie out of the way. She tumbled and rolled through the sand, heard Steven shout her name, heard him calling for them not to hurt the dragon. She sat up quickly, watching as the kid ran forward, grabbing Pearl by the arm and tugging her away from the sea beast.

But, his efforts were in vain, as, with one final cry, the beast disappeared in a could of orange smoke. The jewel fell to the ground, the only thing remaining to speak of its existence. Garnet picked it up, and suddenly, a bubble of her own formed around it. With a small touch on top of it, the bubble vanished.

“No!” Steven yelled at them. “It wasn’t going to hurt us!”

Garnet turned to him, facial expression hidden behind a visor. “Steven, these beasts are unpredictable and dangerous. It _was_ going to hurt you. Don’t come that close to one again.”

“No! No, you don’t understand!” Tears streamed down his face. “It was friendly! I-if they’re unpredictable, that means anything an happen, right?! And that means it’s possible that this one didn’t wanna hurt us!”

“That’s enough, Steven.” Garnet reached down and picked him up, tucking the squirming child under her arm.

“Excuse me, are you alright?” Connie hadn’t even heard Pearl approach. She jumped at her voice, turning to face the pale gem quickly. She had knelt down beside her, a worried look on her face. “Did that corrupted gem hurt you?”

Connie adjusted her glasses, which now featured a large crack in the lenses, trying to calm her heart down. “N-no. It wasn’t going to hurt us, ma’am.”

Pearl shook her head sadly. “Those beasts hurt us every day. It was only a matter of time. They’re just aggressive and thieves. Don’t let this one invade your head too much. The danger has passed, and you’re safe now.”

Connie shook her head. “No, it wasn’t going to hurt us. We were in a glowing bubble, and it thought we were food, and once the bubble was gone, it was just curious! It even let us pet it!”

Pearl reeled back like she’d been struck. “Human child, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” she shot back. “I’ve never seen you here before, so you’re new, correct? You haven’t seen them in action. All they want to do is hunt and kill. It was probably tricking you into letting your guard down so it could make its move.” She pointed a finger accusingly at Connie. “Now, if you know what’s best for you, you’ll go home and think about what’s happened here today.”

Connie shrunk back under the gem’s anger. She hesitated, but when Pearl didn’t move, she surrendered, picking herself up and dragging herself back to town. On the way, her mind drifted. She thought back to the creature, how it had sounded happy as they pet it. It added up- Steven’s theory on why it was so gentle, how it ate glowing things, and its behavior in general. But, Pearl was an adult and spent so much time fighting these things. She should know more about them than Connie would, right? That would make sense.

She couldn’t stop thinking about it. As much as she wanted to believe Steven, Pearl was the adult and should know better. How old was Steven? He looked to be about the same age as her, maybe younger, and she was only 11. So surely the gem knew better.

Right?

At dinner that night, Connie decided she needed a second opinion. She and her parents sat in the dining room, eating salad with bits of cut chicken sprinkled around in its contents. Normally, Connie liked the meal, but today she couldn’t focus on eating it. Too much swarmed in her head. She knew her parents had noticed, and decided that it was now or never. She took a breath, setting her fork down.

“Mom,” she started, working up the nerve to ask this question, “what all do you know about the gem monsters?”

Priyanka chewed thoughtfully, probably picking the right words to say. “Well,” she spoke eventually, “they’re highly dangerous and vicious. They attack the boardwalk to steal, and they live in what Garnet calls a ‘Nest.’ They’ve been trying to find the Nest for thousands of years, but have had no luck.”

Connie nodded thoughtfully. “Do you know why they attack?”

Priyanka frowned. “No, but they are known to steal and destroy. So, according to the locals, reason doesn’t matter. They’re getting hurt, and need to defend themselves. It’s too dangerous to study the creatures, and if anyone gets too close, the dragons attack.”

 _Steven and I got close,_ Connie thought. She frowned. “Has anyone ever gotten to touch one before?”

Doug shook his head. “Not from what I’ve heard, no. Why?”

“Just curious.” Connie shrugged and looked away.

Priyanka and Doug shared a glance, but opted not to press. They continued eating in silence for a while, before Doug jumped in with a funny work story that happened to him earlier that day, and the topic was forgotten.

* * *

Connie had been 11 when she met Steven Universe.

She had been 12 when he disappeared.

It was months later. She’d met him a few more times after that, though no other beasts had shown up while they were together. They did things normal kids do. She showed him her favorite book series, he taught her how to play video games, they laughed and joked, played in the sand. One time, more strange gem occurrences happened, though this time, the two fused together into a singular being named Stevonnie. That was… an experience, both the person and that day together. Turns out, being a grown-up wasn’t all fun and games, and you didn’t know everything, and some adults were bad people. But that was the worst experience they had together, and neither wanted to forget being Stevonnie together. So Kevin was pushed to the back of their minds, and they continued doing normal kid things.

Connie had managed to keep Steven a secret for a while, or at least the fact that they’d met. However, being the adoptive son of the three town leaders, it was hard for her parents not to know the kid existed, and their opinions were mixed. Connie decided it was best to keep her encounters with him a secret, and if they got caught, she’d come clean.

But, after the kid vanished, she felt guilty for not coming out sooner. Now, she couldn’t tell her parents about how much she missed him, or how much she wanted to join the hunt in finding him. She mentioned those things a couple of times, but never as much as she wanted to out of paranoia. It was silly. It was stupid. And it may have cost her her first real friend.

Steven had vanished at night, according to his guardians. He was supposedly sleeping, and had been left alone, when the gems heard him scream in pain. They ran out of their rooms to find a hole in the wall and a dragon flying off into the night. They chased after it, but it was already too high to reach and too fast to follow.

Pearl had managed to sketch out what the beast that took their child away looked like, but it wasn’t detailed. It had a singular pair of wings, four legs, bright pink eyes, and a tail. That description wasn’t much to go off of, but the hunt continued anyway.

And it was after that that Connie decided that, no matter what, she would find her best friend. And to do that, she needed to know how to fight these beasts, too.

She begged her mom to let her train to fight, to be able to poof them so she could see which one had supposedly eaten Steven. But, Connie had a suspicion that wasn’t the case. That one monster on the beach didn’t eat them, didn’t it? It decided to spare them. Why would a dragon go out of its way to hunt in a guarded house for a small meal? It could have gone to literally any other building and had more food, plus getting it was easier. But no. It just _happened_ to take Steven. Connie didn’t buy it, and she wanted to track down the creature and find out what really happened.  
But, Priyanka never let her go, claiming that she didn’t want her daughter putting herself in danger like that. She could be a part of the cleanup and rebuilding, but that was it. Fighting was out of the question.

So, Connie took to researching instead. Pearl’s quick sketch of the dragon matched none that she saw in the library, not even the Book of Gems, which detailed exactly which corrupted gems were which, how to tell them apart, and different things to watch out for when fighting them. Connie learned that the beast she and Steven met that day was called a “Scauldron,” and could have boiled them alive if it wanted to. But it didn’t. All the dragons in this book could do horrendous things to their victims, and each page claimed to poof on sight, but nothing ever claimed they could be capable of anything other than absolute violence.

Pearl had created a page in the back for the Night Snatcher, as she was calling it. There was zero information there, and even her sketch hadn’t been drawn in as Pearl claimed it “wasn’t accurate enough to be solidified in such absolute knowledge.” As much as its description was generic, it matched none of the known dragons in the book, which worried Connie. There were more out there yet to be discovered, meaning this book wasn’t complete. It might never be complete.

So, while she waited for her chance to get into training, she took a notebook out to the forest and began researching dragons herself.

She didn’t have much luck, and almost every time a dragon heard her sneak up on it, she’d startle it and it’d chase her. Oftentimes, she got the beasts poofed because she’d run back to town, where the locals were quick to come to her defense. But, the creatures themselves were never doing anything malicious out there. It was odd that no one else had seen this behavior, or if they had, they dismissed it and never thought more on it. It bothered Connie to no end, but she was going to do what she had to in order to get her best friend back.

That meant learning to fight, which she wasn’t allowed to do. Second best thing to fighting was capturing and trapping, but both of those were too cruel as well. All trapping equipment that people had was built to poof, and Connie did not want to poof any of these beasts. Fighting was her only way to get up close and personal, and trapping was cruel.

So, she decided to make her own trap. She took up studying different mechanisms and survival traps, and had come up with a devise that was small enough to drag around, but big enough to hold a large net. The thing worked like a crossbow, in a way. Potential energy would build up in the pull strings, which were pulled back and locked in place. They supported a flat disk that sat at the back of the barrel, which housed the net. She’d taken it for a single test fire, to which it worked well enough- the net had opened, after all- but now she needed to capture a dragon.

She needed to capture a Night Snatcher and get to the bottom of this.

And all she needed now was a clear night, an attack, and a clear shot.


	2. This is Beach City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dragons attack the boardwalk!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy y’all! Sorry to keep you all waiting. Thanks for being patient! 
> 
> This chapter is meant to reflect the first scene of HTTYD, which introduces us (the audience) to all the major characters and musical themes in the story, minus the Red Death and Toothless’ Theme. Of course, there’s no music here, but I imagine this scene would do the same. 
> 
> I’m going to try and update these chapters in between Second Chance pages, which for those of you who don’t know what that is, that’s my Crystal Gem Spinel AU. It’s a comic, and can be found on Tumblr. I’ll leave a link in the notes at the bottom. :)
> 
> All that said, enjoy!

Connie had been 12 when Steven Universe disappeared.

But that had been almost four years ago.

At first, the search had been relentless. No one got any sleep, and even people who barely knew him were torn up at the idea that a kid that innocent and loving- and powerful- had been taken away. Teams of people tore up the nearby countryside, searching even harder for where the beasts camped out during the day in case they could find him. Steven was a fighter! He had a shield! He was strong! He could take care of himself!

So why did no one find him?

Steven’s father, Greg Universe, headed the search parties. The man rarely slept, rarely did anything else. He even shut down his car wash for months, just trying to find his son. When he wasn’t searching, he was in his van alone, or out on the cliffside strumming his guitar out where the lighthouse was.

But, nothing worked, and eventually, Beach City had to accept the fact that maybe Steven was never coming back. Some refused, and to this day, Greg heads teams of people out into the wilderness, searching farther and farther every time. Sometimes, it’s just him looking, when no one else could join him.

But life goes on. Now-a-days, Greg could be seen by the car wash, or out repairing damage to buildings. He was ever-kind, almost as much as his son had been, and always tried to put his best foot forward, even when he would rather not.

Connie met the guy only a few times, but her respect for him was immeasurable.

Now, it was late springtime. Connie was 15 years old, to be 16 come winter, and spent a good lot of her time studying up on the dragons. She sat on the beach, savoring those last few strokes of daylight from the setting sun as she tried to figure out what went wrong with her most recent expedition out into the woods.

She had come across a Zippleback, a two-headed gem that was mostly green, but dotted in red corruption scars. It had been digging around in the bushes for something, which Connie had been curious about, but she didn’t try to figure it out. Instead, she made sure to make plenty of noise, making herself known so she wouldn’t startle it. The gem had looked at her, then went back to whatever it had been doing. 

She tried to get closer, not bothering to try anything stealthy, and for a moment, the beast let her. It was only when it started to go deeper into the forest did things go wrong. Connie tried to follow behind, exceedingly curious and excited she’d made it this far, but then the dragon turned to her furiously and chased her away. Not back to town, thankfully, but away nonetheless.

What had it been doing? Did it know? Was there a point? Why did it only chase Connie away at that moment, and not before? Why at all? Questions swarmed in the girl’s head as she studied the Zippleback page in the Book of Gems (noting immediately that this was one of the many pages that didn’t list out what species of gem it really was), scouring for any type of answer at all. Was it territorial? The book didn’t say anything on the matter, for or against. Was there another dragon nearby it was trying to protect? Gems don’t have children, so that seemed unlikely, but not impossible.

Once again, Connie wished Steven were here.

A bell rang out. Connie perked up immediately. That was the Attack Bell, meaning tonight would be a fight. That was the sound of war, to either get somewhere safe or to prepare for fire.

Connie stood immediately, slamming the book shut and clutching it with both hands. A quick look around gave her all the answers she needed to know; the dragons were headed in from over sea this time, a medium-large flock of them all making a beeline for the boardwalk.

Connie stuffed the book in her cyan blue backpack, threw the thing over her arm, and _ran._ Feet pounded on sand, slipping just a bit as she tried to turn and adjust along the uneven shoreline. She hoped she could make it back to town before the attack began, and for a hot second it looked like it was going to be close, but alas, fate was not on her side today.

Part of the walk was already on fire by the time Connie arrived, already drenched in sweat. Screams rang out as wings coated the sky, yowls and war cries echoing up and down the walk. People held shields and swords, bows and tridents, mallets and maces, most any weapon one could imagine, bearing down their attackers with rage, fueled by fear. Fear of death, fear of hurt, and most of all, fear of losing someone close to them.

The dragons were equally fierce in their attack, claws and spines coming down to thunk roughly against the wood or metal of a shield. Fire and green, acidic gases filled the air, painting the town in yellow, orange, and red. The sun was halfway down now, only sinking faster, making the firelight burn brighter as a result against the dark-tinted buildings.

Connie watched as multiple dragons teamed up to break into Fish Stew Pizza, probably to collect the fishy prizes held within. Another set burst into the Big Donut, but were batted away instead of taking anything out. Sadie Miller and Lars Barriga each swung weapons after them, yelling commands.

Sadie stuck her spear into the sand, glaring at the retreating beasts. “AAAAAAND STAY OUT!” she screamed at them, waving a fist in the air. Her blond hair was already dirty, even though the fight had only just begun, with her shirt slightly burnt and tattered near the edges.

“Yeah, don’t come back!” Lars joined in Sadie’s cheering. He held a small club in his hands, small enough to fit on a utility belt if need be, with small spikes dotting the thicker part of the weapon. He grinned at Sadie, shooting her a smug look. “Did you see the way that Naddar ran _scared_ when I hit it?” he gloated. “I bet it’s never coming back here again!” He gave a mock bow. “You’re welcome.”

Sadie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I saw it. I also saw it whip around to try and impale you and you run away screaming.”

Lars waved a hand in front of him, looking the other way. “Eh, details.”

“Lars! Sadie!” Connie ran up to them, both hands clenching her backpack straps tightly. She skidded to a stop in front of them, taking just a second to catch her breath. “What all have we got?”

Sadie pulled her spear out of the sand, hoisting it over her shoulder. “Well, we just got raided by a few Naddars and a Gronkle. There are also a few Deathsongs, a Whispering Death, and a couple Monstrous Nightmares from what I’ve seen.”

A smaller dragon- perhaps 2-3 feet in length, including the tail- slithered up to the trio, flaring its wings and shooting a blast of fire. Lars had to fling himself out of the way as Sadie rushed forward, swinging her spear. The creature, a Terrible Terror (who were more pests than anything else), backed away, then took off into the sky, letting out its shrill cry. Connie noticed a small grey gem on its hip as it took off.

Sadie huffed, turning back to Connie with a small half-smile. “And those guys, apparently.”

“Any Night Snatchers?” Connie’s grip tightened around her backpack straps.

Sadie shook her head. “Not from what I’ve heard, no. Trust me, when one shows up, you just _know.”_

Well, Connie knew that already. The Night Snatcher was known for its roar, loud and oftentimes destructive. They were darn fast and made a long, drawn-out noise when charging a fire attack (usually). They were also more like wildcards than anything on the battlefield; sometimes they ran, other times they fought back. Most of the time, they just… showed up. But because of their unpredictable nature, people steered clear of them anyway. The beasts rarely, if ever, raided buildings, but were known for tearing trees and other dragons right up off the ground, launching them far away. If one showed up, _everyone knew._

Connie frowned in determination, though slightly disappointed that a Night Snatcher hadn’t arrived yet. “Any way I can help?”

Lars let out a scoff. “Uh, _no._ So unless you suddenly grow an entire foot, get buff, and suddenly know how to throw a bolo, I think _you_ should go hide.”

Connie looked away, backing up from the conversation.

“Lars!” Sadie turned to him, frowning. “What was that for?”

“What? I’m being honest! She’s not exactly helpful!” He threw his hands in the air in annoyance. “How many corrupted gems does she bring back here that we then have to take care of?”

“So? That’s no reason to be mean!”

The two continued arguing as Connie continued to run into the fray, away from Lars’ insults. Not that they weren’t true. She was smaller- a thin girl with thin arms and next to no muscles. She’d never really gotten the chance to do any lifting or anything like that, aside from the occasional workout to keep herself in shape, but “buff” was _definitely_ not a word one used to describe her.

Throwing a bolo, however, she may just know how to do. With a little bit of help, of course.

As she raced through town, Connie decided to take a quick mental inventory of the gems herself. Sure enough, she could spot several of the beasts Sadie mentioned, and then some.

Deathsongs launched amber from above, encasing their victims in solid material seconds after they were struck. Their large, butterfly-like wings and beauty be damned, those things could single-handedly take out an entire army if it didn’t know how to deal with them. Fortunately, years and years of experience was on the defender’s side, as hot liquid was poured onto the cocoons, bursting the amber and setting the trapped go.

Whispering Deaths were a terror from beneath, bursting through the Earth’s crust from holes they dig like moles, their pupilless eyes somehow seeing everything around them. Their tails were like whips, slashing into nearby buildings and causing collapse. People found reflective surfaces, shining light in their eyes and driving them back into the ground, their fear of sunlight too much. Fortunately, this was one of the few species of gem that the Book mentioned by name- corrupted Nephrites.

Monstrous Nightmares… weren’t hard to miss. They could set themselves on fire, though how was still unanswered as no one had been able to really study one before. They were all spines, spikes, and claws, along with pearly white, jagged teeth sticking out of their mouths from their jaws. Those guys were exceedingly hard to battle, and only the best fighters went after them. Connie saw three of them now, all of them engaged in battle with multiple people each, and even then it was barely a fair fight.

As Connie ran, she could see people on the ground, injured. Some were just taking a knee, while others were bleeding pretty badly. The casualties ranged, though most people were only a bit hurt. Nonetheless, people were starting to go down, so it was only natural that more townsfolk rushed out to help.

Doug Maheswaran shot past, waving a club with much more dignity than Lars’ tree branch. He leapt over a man who was curled up on his side, clutching a wounded leg, and hit a Naddar across the face as he went by. The spikey dragon gave a hiss, but took to the sky and flapped away. Doug widened his stance, ready to do it again, when Connie caught the corner of his eye.

He turned to her, eyes wide. “Connie! What are you doing here?”

The girl rushed over to him, hands growing ever tighter around the backpack straps. “I wanna help! Where can I find a shield, do you know?”

Doug frowned. “Nuh-uh, absolutely not. Get somewhere safe.”

Connie reached a hand up to him. “But-“

“NOW!” Doug turned back to the sky, racing after another dragon that appeared to be moving in towards another downed human. He swung the bat, only hitting air, but scaring off the attacker in the process.

Connie frowned. She wasn’t a kid anymore; she knew how to handle herself. Or, at least she _would_ if her parents could just give her the chance to prove it. She shook her head, disappointed.

A moan from the ground caught her attention. The man on the ground was still hurt, and her just standing there wasn’t helping anyone. She quickly knelt down, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Can you hear me?” Connie asked him. “I’m going to help you walk someplace safe. Is that okay?”

He nodded, lifting up his arms like a child would, allowing Connie to easily slip her hands around his torso and lift. His arms wrapped around her shoulders, and together, with Connie acting as support, the two edged along to the outskirts of the battle. Some people saw what she was trying to do and cleared a path, making it easier to move. Doug also saw the two, noting his daughter’s intentions and rushing to help bat dragons away as Connie moved.

Eventually, she came to a stop in front of Fish Stew Pizza, where Kiki and Jenny were waiting. Kiki rushed out to greet them when she saw the injured man, and helped Connie with those last few meters to the door, holding it open. Connie set the guy on a chair, to which he murmured a quiet “thank you.” Kiki rushed to the kitchen, then a few seconds later came back with a soaked rag and a first aid kit.

Connie flung open the door, rushed back outside, and continued her sprint, right into Dr. Maheswaran. The doctor had been running around the whole time, helping others find safety just like Connie had. The only difference was that Connie wasn’t allowed to do that.

“CONNIE! What on earth are you doing here?!” Priyanka shouted at her. “Get out of here, now!”

Connie stepped back. “Mom! How did-? What are _you_ doing here?”

Priyanka’s frown deepened. “I got a call from Jenny Pizza about a hurt man, and I’ve come to help. _You_ need to go into the residential area and wait this out. The gem monsters aren’t attacking over there.”

“But-“

“Do not argue with me! Go!” And with that, Priyanka tore past Connie, slamming the restaurant door open and heading straight for the man sitting in the chair. Connie noted quickly that her father had also seen the interaction, and had opened his mouth to say something, but instead tore into the restaurant after Priyanka.

Connie didn’t stop to watch through the glass windows. She glared hard at the ground in annoyance, and continued running.

As she did, she noticed more and more people coming out to help people find cover. The Pizza Twins headed out into the heat of battle, bringing more people inside. Buck Dewey and Sour Cream joined shortly after, running in from the houses behind the main buildings on the boardwalk. Lars and Sadie, done defending their workplace, had also joined, with Lars more on the defense and Sadie on the offense. They were all teenagers, older than Connie, and had also been told to stay out of it by adults until they could get proper training to be on the field. Most teens would probably start that schooling soon, as Pearl’s fighting class was due to be open in about a week or less from now.

Meanwhile, the fighting continued. Poofing sounds could be heard from across the bay, but also yells and screams. One guy had latched onto a dragon that lifted into the air, but lost his grip and fell. He bounced back up quickly, as if it never happened, and moved on to the next one. The Gronkle bucked him off, too, but something had to be said about his determination, right? Another girl had a Deathsong by the neck, wrapped in a lasso with spikes on it. A singular tug, and the dragon poofed, leaving an orange agate dotted in dark purple and light blue spots fall to the ground. Connie had to start minding the rocks littering the boardwalk so as not to accidentally step on one.

Finally, she reached her destination. Going against her mother’s wishes, Connie burst into the forge, breathing heavily. She leaned against the wall to catch her breath, but once she had it, she was quick to move to the back of the building.

The forge was built where Suitcase Sam’s had been, ten years ago. It had gotten burnt to the ground completely, and the other uncorrupted gem of the original four, Bismuth, decided to rebuild there. Apparently, she had another forge like this one, but not human-proof. This one acted as her home away from home, and she continued to build and workshop new weapons here when the other three gems needed her help. Bismuth was the only other uncorrupted gem Connie had ever seen, though she was usually off in one of her forges, so the girl didn’t see her often. She was the backbone of the entire defense system here, and made sure everyone was equipped with whatever they needed.

That included weapons of their own, to which Connie had happily set up shop in Bismuth’s forge.

Connie wasn’t needed on the battlefield, at least, not today, so that meant that she had time to make a few more adjustments to her net launcher. It was firing at a slight angle from what she’d seen of her one test she did about a week ago (or maybe that was just the wind?), so she needed to figure out how to fix that.

The mechanism was about four feet tall, coming up to her chest due to the wood supporting the crossbow strings. It could rotate and move up and down, equipped with a trigger and two handles to make adjusting it easier. Connie grasped the handles and started wiggling it around, just to be sure that part still ran smoothly.

“Back _again,_ Bluepack?” Bismuth’s voice called out from somewhere behind her. Connie turned to see the grey, rainbow-haired gem standing behind the counter, placing a freshly-made sword on the countertop. Bismuth’s eyes were filled with amusement. “Haven’t you been comin’ here during a battle for the past half year or so? If you’re lookin’ for cover, this ain’t the best spot to get it.”

Connie shook her head. “No, I’m trying to fix up my… trapper,” she replied. She spun back around to face the mechanism. “It’s almost done, but I just wanna be sure it works before taking it out.”

Bismuth shrugged. “Sounds like a solid plan. Whatsit do?”

Connie flushed a bit, embarrassed. No one had ever really been interested in what she’d been doing before, and her parents didn’t even know, so the surprise spotlight felt uncomfortable. “It erm, it launches nets. Err, one net at a time.”

Bismuth opened the counter door, which connected the thing to the wall in a horseshoe shape, and stepped out. Her boots thudded heavily on the wooden floor of the shop part of the building as she walked closer. “Mind if I take a look? I don’t know much about aerodynamics, but I’ve built traps before.”

“Oh, sure.” Connie stepped away, allowing the much larger woman to approach.

Connie took note immediately of how strong this gem must be. She had biceps to spare, which went well with her iron wit and will. On her left shoulder was a tattoo of a star, which went along with the star on her apron. Bis knelt down, running a hand along the wood, and for just a split second, Connie was afraid she’d crush it under her large hands. But, despite her size, Bismuth was surprisingly gentle, and no harm came to the contraption.

She hummed in thought, examining the mechanical aspects of the weapon. “This meant to shoot corruptions outta the sky?” she asked.

Connie nodded awkwardly. “Yes, ma’am.”

Bismuth practically jumped at the term, then chuckled. “No need to be so formal, Bluepack! The name’s Bismuth.”

“O-oh, uhm,” Connie blinked. “I’m Connie.”

Bismuth nodded thoughtfully. “Much better name than ‘Bluepack.’ Well, nice to finally get to meet’cha, Connie.” She held out a hand for her to shake.

Connie opened her mouth to reply, but a loud boom from just above their heads stopped her in her tracks. Bismuth looked up, almost as though she could see what just exploded through the roofing, and frowned in determination. “Well, this has been fun, but it sounds like they need me out there,” she announced. She looked back towards the much smaller girl, flashing her a grin. “How’s about when I get back, we take another look at this net launcher, huh?”

“O-oh! Uh, okay!” Connie smiled nervously at her, genuinely delighted to finally have someone take an interest, all while being intimidated by Bismuth’s sheer size and energy. “That sounds great!”

“Cool!” The grey gem’s hands flashed white, and suddenly, she had produced two hammers of her own, replacing her hands with flat surfaces. “See you then, Connie!”

The door was already standing wide open, as it always was during an attack, and Bismuth shot out with weapons literally swinging. Connie heard a poof sound just outside the door with a loud “NYAHHHH!” as a gem monster fell to her wrath.

Left behind _again._ The feeling was bitter, if less so this time. Connie turned back to her devise, using delicate hands to tinker with the pull strings again. She could hear more explosions, both poofs and dragon fire, as the sounds of war filtered into the building from the walls and open door.

But then she heard _it._ It’s roar was unmistakable, cutting through the air a knife. It was a tenor, usually, but had a vibration to it’s throat that made it waver into the alto section in quick succession. It was _loud,_ commanding, demanding. That was a roar that said “I’m here. Now _move.”_

_The Night Snatcher. The beast that took Steven._

_It’s finally here._

Without a second thought, Connie spun back to her mechanism. Everything looked to be in order, and at least working, so she grasped the handles that also supported it on the ground, turned it on its front wheels, and ran out the door.

As soon as she was out of the safety of the forge, a blast of fire that flared blue on first impact before fading to orange hit the wall next to her. A nearby Gronkle cried out in alarm, jumping away from the impact before barreling straight into a human fighter. Connie felt the heat radiate from the explosion, nearly scorching her skin but slightly too far away to do any real damage. Connie looked up towards where the blast may have come from to see it, the dragon, its dark pinkish-magenta underbelly flashing in the dying light of the fire before it vanished into the sky again. It didn’t help that the creature was such a dark color, blending easily into the night sky.

Fortunately for Connie, it wasn’t quite night just yet. The sky was still plenty light enough to see it, but if she didn’t move now, it would be dark by the time she got to her launching spot. The dark magenta sky was still brighter than the magenta dragon, though their hues were quickly matching. She had to move, now.

Ignoring everyone and everything, Connie shot across the boardwalk, shoving her net launcher as fast as she could. While she ran, she took note that the Crystal Gems- Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl- had now also joined the fight, or had at least made their way to this side of the town. Knowing them, they were probably first to get involved. But they weren’t important right now. The rocks glittering in the setting sun falling all around her weren’t important right now. Not even the yellow Naddar with blue spots on it that landed in front of Connie was important right now. She simply ducked around it, and heard with relief as another person engaged with it instead.

Within five minutes, Connie had gotten up the hill that crested up above the Temple, above Steven’s old home. On top of it sat the crumbled remains of the lighthouse, once destroyed by a dragon only a few years ago. Many believed it to be the destructive power of the Night Snatcher, but no one was sure. Either way, it was the perfect place to see everything happening in Beach City, and that meant the battle as well.

Connie threw the legs back down, ran to the front and shoved the barrel up towards the sky. She ran back around and pulled the strings back, now having done a full 360 around the thing. She quickly double-checked that she had everything ready, including having a net in the barrel, and waited.

Funny, but you could barely hear the fighting from here. And what you did hear was behind the light show happening in front of her. Connie watched as a dragon shot fire down, but only heard the hiss of crackling flame a second after the attack happened. She wasn’t that far away, not really, so she supposed it should have been louder. Oh, well, it was for the best it wasn’t.

But other than that, it was quiet up here. The world almost faded away as Connie searched the sky, her sharp eyes scanning the stars for any kind of movement. The Night Snatcher was fast, but not unrealistically so. She just had to wait and be sure she knew where it was, then aim slightly ahead of where it was going.

There was no wind. It would be a clear shot.

The world stilled. Time stilled. Connie squinted.

Nothing…

The waves beat against the shore. There was the cry of startled seagulls.

Nothing…

Fire continued to make muted, delayed booms from below, but so far away that it seemed to be coming from a pair of speakers rather than reality.

Nothing…

Then, the sound of the Night Snatcher’s warm-up. It was like a hum, like when scientists booted up a time machine in the movies, and it took a moment to fully come alive. It increased in pitch, switching from the tenor to an alto as the dragon got ready to fire.

There! A dark blot against the trees swooped close to Funland, which was about as far away as one could get from where Connie now stood, but she knew the range on this thing was surprisingly far. There was no wind. This was it.

Connie brought her eye up to the little target, taking into account the fact that it had a slight veer to the left to it. She adjusted the barrel accordingly, then tilted it up to account for distance. The dragon was headed towards the ocean, so she moved the mechanism outwards. All of this in the span of a few seconds, she then watched as the dragon fired a blast at the ground. This one, too, flared blue before switching to orange flame, indicating how hot the blast was. The sound didn’t reach her yet, but now Connie could see it clearly. It was the Night Snatcher alright.

She took a deep breath and fired.

After a second, the net was lost to the night sky. Then, silence. Deadly, suffocating silence. Did she hit it? Connie looked up above the target, scanning for anything with narrowed eyes.

The boom from the explosion. Then, a shriek. A couple of cracks that sounded like quickly breaking wood. Connie waited with baited breath for the Night Snatcher to rise back up and take her out.

But it never did.

She waited for about two full minutes, fiercely long while in battle, but when the Night Snatcher never returned, Connie threw her hands up.

“WOOOOO!” She celebrated, jumping up and down a few times. “I DID IT! I REALLY DID IT!” Her eyes alight with stars now, she fist pumped, then placed that same hand at her hip. “And they said I couldn’t do this kind of thing. Wait till I show everyone! I-“ She cut herself off, her happy look fading. “Ah, who am I kidding? That’s a terrible idea.” She looked down at the town, imagining them all either laughing at her or running off after the beast to poof it, once and for all.

Connie built that trap to not poof its victims for a _reason._ She didn’t need the townsfolk doing it anyway. After all, you can’t get answers out of a bubble.

She needed to find her prize first, before anyone else did. The Night Snatcher was all hers, and she could finally have all the answers she wanted.

All she needed to do now was find it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Second Chance: https://a-second-chance-su-au.tumblr.com/
> 
> This thing has a Tumblr too! To see updates, character refs, and meta commentary/ explanations of characters, as well as to submit asks, go check it out!
> 
> https://how-to-train-your-monster.tumblr.com/


	3. The Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie goes looking for her prize, the Maheswarans go looking for their daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! The support has been amazing!
> 
> With this chapter, we jump perspectives. Sorry, Steven, but I cannot tell a story through one set of character’s eyes like you can, buddy. That is not gonna fly here. :)
> 
> This story is canon-divergent, and for the sake of laying groundwork, we’re gonna say that this takes place right around the time when the movie would have. However, things are (obviously) different, and we’ll be getting to more explanations on why things changed later on, including why Bismuth is unbubbled, where Peridot is (ie where Jasper is), and why the Cluster hasn’t emerged. For now, let’s just set up some character. 
> 
> Without further adieu, enjoy!

_He came to again for the third time. He still hurt. Something told him that he should move. He needed to run away. But he couldn’t. He groaned, letting his head fall back to the ground._

_The grassy cage he was caught in was loose. He could easily get free if he wanted to._

_But sleep sounded good right now, too._

_He let himself drift off into another dreamless sleep._

* * *

The shop of Fish Stew Pizza was moderately warm, the smells of pizza sauce, cheese, and cooking bread filling the air (along with what Doug thought was salmon). It was still dark outside, the moon having just finally come up over the sea and filling the night with a silvery glow. It was a half-moon tonight, so the light wasn’t much, but it was still better than nothing.

The dragons had finally, _finally_ decided to leave, taking a bunch of assorted foods and materials with them (why did they always take wood? Did gems eat wood?). The flock flew back out to sea, back from whence they came, and people were starting to get to their feet. Doug could hear names being shouted into the night, along with “I’m fine”s and “I’m right here!”s and “Over here”s. No name was repeated more than five times.

Priyanka was finishing up wrapping her patient’s leg, having put a temporary splint on it, and had washed away the blood. He was out cold, having been barely conscious when he came into the building about an hour before, and dozed almost peacefully as the doctor finished her task. She sighed in relief, taking her gloves off and standing.

“He should be okay now,” she murmured, mostly to herself. She then turned to Doug, giving him a firm (but not unloving) look. “I’m going to go clean up. I’ll be back in a minute. Could you let this man’s family know he’s alright? They’re standing outside.”

Doug turned his head to look out the window. Sure enough, there were three people watching them through the glass, all with scared yet hopeful eyes. “Sure,” he replied, not looking at the doctor as he stood up.

Only a few steps brought him to the door. It opened easily, bringing the sulfur and smoke to his nose as soon as the seal was broken. One might think he’d gag, but that was the thing; he was used to it by now. Pretty much everyone was at this point.

“Well?” A taller woman with medium-dark skin and blue eyes asked. Her accent seemed to suggest one of the many tribes of Native Americans, though it was one he didn’t recognize. She crossed her arms nervously. “Will he be okay?”

The rest of her family wore similar looks of hope and curiosity.

Doug nodded. “He’ll be fine. Dr. Maheswaran can’t officially diagnose him without proper equipment, but she believes he only burned himself, along with the cut of what appears to be a human weapon. Do you know what weapon he typically wields?”

The woman nodded. “A sword.”

“Then there it is. He accidentally got himself with the sword. The doc put a splint on him and got his leg all wrapped up, after disinfecting the wound, of course, though we suggest taking him to the hospital just to be sure.”

She and her family all breathed sighs of relief. “Thank you.”

Doug nodded. “You’re welcome. Would you like to come see him? He’s free to go if you can help carry him.” Doug gestured an arm inside, and the family of three gratefully took the offering, heading inside next to their fallen loved one. The woman, who appeared to be the head of the family, began shaking the patient awake, speaking softly to him.

By now, Priyanka was done in the bathroom. She came back down from the hallway off to the right of the main dining area, holding her posture high and surveying the scene in front of her. Doug could see her smile from a mile away- she was pretty bad at hiding how happy she usually was once someone under her care was taken care of. She made a beeline for Doug, placing a hand on his shoulder as the two watched the family reunion together.

She was the first to speak. “So I saw Connie out and about last night,” she declared disapprovingly.

Doug sighed. “So did I. I told her to get somewhere safe, then as soon as I turn around, she was helping a guy get into Fish Stew Pizza since he couldn’t carry himself.”

Priyanka looked to her husband in surprise. “Connie brought him here?”

Doug nodded. “She did.” He shook his head fondly. “Once she wants to do something, it’s pretty hard to stop her.”

Priyanka hummed in agreement. “It’s going to get her seriously hurt one of these days,” she commented.

“That’s true,” Doug replied. “Be a real shame if she suddenly knew how to defend herself so we’d stop worrying about her.”

Priyanka blinked, not sure she heard her husband right, before shooting him a quizzical look. “Say that again?”

Doug dropped the sarcasm, looking to Priyanka with undisguised worry. “Let’s take this somewhere else.” He glanced back at the family, who was now attempting to get the patient to stand.

Priyanka got the hint. She gave a singular nod and followed Doug outside.

The two walked down the boardwalk together, each surveying the damage. Buildings were on fire, and smoke plumed up in the sky, but in a few minutes, all fires would be put out. The people here were proficient like that. Some buildings lay in shambles, though it looks like most structures tonight were left alone. Funland was the heaviest-hit, the Ferris wheel somehow being the only thing untouched from what Doug could see from here.

The stars were blocked out entirely, except for along the horizon line and a singular break in the clouds directly above, where a familiar constellation everyone except Doug seemed to know gleamed down on them from above.

Priyanka followed his gaze, the look on her face indicating that she was searching for words. After a few seconds, she turned her head towards him, their brown eyes meeting. “So, you were saying about Connie?”

  
Doug shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah. Connie is an amazing young woman, Pri. She’s growing up to be smart, resourceful, and aware of what’s going on around her. All of that seems great, except the fact that she keeps using this to get close to corrupted gems and putting herself in danger.”

Priyanka made a noise of agreement, but remained quiet, allowing Doug to finish.

He looked up. “Connie’s determination is going to get her hurt or worse at this rate, and no matter how much we try to contain it, she’s going to continue doing what she wants to, what she’s passionate about. And if she wants to study these things, then that’s what she’s going to continue doing.” He looked Pri in the eyes, coming to a halt beside her. “It’s no secret that she wants to fight with us, nor that she genuinely enjoys being around these gem monsters. She also wanted to do everything she could for that Universe boy a few years back, even though she barely knew him. She’s only going to keep throwing herself in danger, and I don’t think there’s anything we can do to really stop her.”

Priyanka’s face turned to one of hurt realization before she looked away. “I know. She’s strong, Doug, stronger than we could ever hope to be.”

“I know. That’s why we need to get her into Pearl’s combat class.”

The doctor’s eyes went from hurt to alarmed in the flick of a switch. “Absolutely not! We need to keep her away from the fight. If you were talking about moving away, o-or getting her a job somewhere else that would keep her busy, then I’m all ears! But she’s not some monster-hunting hooligan!”

“No one said she was,” Doug agreed. “I’m saying that if she’s going to keep throwing herself into danger, then she should at least know what to do when worst comes to worst. Otherwise, she _will_ get hurt or worse. I’m not sure how she’s made it so far without sustaining any real injuries.”

Priyanka dug for something to say back, but came up with nothing. She sighed in defeat. “I know. I just don’t want her to- you know. I worry about her.”

“So do I. But if we want to protect her, that means teaching her how to protect herself. She’s gonna be on her own one of these days, and we’re not going to be there to set rules. You know that.”

“I do. It’s just… hard to accept.”

“That’s why we have to.”

Priyanka sighed in defeat. “Okay. But she’ll be enrolling younger than the other teenagers in that class. Most of them are seventeen or older.”

“She can handle it.” Doug gave her a gentle yet confident smile. “Connie can do this, and she will. Besides, no one said she had to _pass_ the class, only enroll in it. She’s going to fling herself into learning everything, you and I both know that, so even if she gets all Fs, we know she at least learned a _few_ things.”

The doctor laughed. “There is no way she’s getting Fs, Douglas.”

“Exactly,” Doug grinned back.

Priyanka let out a puff of air, looking around for any last-minute reasons on why her little girl shouldn’t put herself on the front lines, but she came up with nothing. “Fine. If you think she needs this…”

Doug nodded. “I know she does. She’ll thank us, just you watch.”

The ghost of a smile crossed Priyanka’s lips as she imagined it. “I suppose. Though…” She looked up, her brows coming together in concern once again. “I don’t see her anywhere.”

Doug’s expression lifted in surprise that he realized that, too. He scanned the nearby streets and alleys, but also saw nothing. “Strange. There’s no way she actually _listened_ to us earlier. So where…?”

Priyanka was already digging out her cell phone to call her. “Well, she can’t have gone far. We’ll find her.” She brought the device up to her ear, and the couple waited in silence as the first few rings came through without an answer.

* * *

The darkness amplified as Connie ducked around tree branches, the many leaves above her blotting out what little light the moon shed. Her eyes had long since adjusted to the dark, but it was still hard to see anything. She’d pulled out her phone’s flashlight, illuminating the way as she ran along. Her foot still managed to trip over bushes and roots though, no matter how much she continued to scan and make sure her way was clear.

The Night Snatcher had been shot from the sky near Funland, and so that’s where Connie was headed. She took the long way around town, through the woods, knowing that if she bumped into her parents again tonight, she would not be able to get to the dragon until morning. And by the time morning rolled around, any number of things could have happened to it.

It was better if she went immediately. She still had a few hours before daylight, it being the middle of summertime right now, and just needed to get to Funland quickly.

She had mapped the trajectory in her head. According to her rough guesstimate, the Night Snatcher would have gone down right around the Ferris Wheel, when viewed from the lighthouse hill. Connie supposed she had about a mile’s worth of grey area around that on both sides, plus a mile- maybe a mile and a half- in the crash zone itself. Plus, she had no way of knowing how far into the woods it went. It was too dark to see any clear trail. It was a daunting task, and she could begin tackling it as soon as she arrived near Funland.

She was almost there. Through a break in the tall trees, she could see the hill, and bits and pieces of buildings. Funland was about 10 more minutes in the direction she was heading, so she turned and started traversing deeper into the trees. This way, she’d be in the crash zone in about 15, maybe 20 minutes tops.

A twig snapped beneath her foot, then multiple at the same time on her next step, the wood breaking under her weight. Connie froze, aiming her light down. Beneath her, a whole flattened bush’s worth of broken branches flayed across her path. Moving the light up, Connie surveyed the rest of the area in more detail.

Of course! A break in the trees. She wasn’t standing in a clearing, and the breaks had been so much smaller before. This opening was wide and long.

Shifting the light along in the direction of the length, Connie noted immediately that trees were forcefully knocked over. Spikes of wood stuck up from fallen trees, part of their trunks still attached. The splintered wood stuck up like ominous warnings from the earth, rising above the multitude of broken and shredded branches littering the ground. Along the forest floor, dirt was revealed forcefully from beneath the grass, clumps of the little green fronds torn up and strewn around in random locations.

Moving the light more along that same path, she saw a hill with a round chunk missing from the top, like a boulder had shaved the top off while being catapulted.

This was a crash zone, alright.

Running now, Connie rushed up the hill. The wood protested loudly from beneath her, and the broken tree limbs threatened to tug her shoes underneath the top layer, but with a couple of well-placed steps and Connie’s sharp eye, she was able to avoid falling through completely.

She slowed down at the crest, stopping to peer over the edge. The fresh dirt felt soft, almost velvety between her fingers as her hands gripped the loose roots of the grass, betraying the tension in her form. Curiosity and excitement drove her now, however, and as she brought the light over the dip in the dirt, she gasped.

The Night Snatcher.

It was a dark magenta along most of its body, including its entire face. It had a lighter underbelly and two massive wings, the skin flayed across the bones like a bat’s. One wing was flayed behind it against the dirt pile the dragon managed to collect behind it, the other wing wrapped up to its side. It had four limbs like any other quadruped Connie had seen, though the were surprisingly short. The legs were wrapped up in ropes, just like its other features, pinned to its body. Spines poked up from the dragon’s back, and they rode along its spine all the way from its neck to its tail. It had a set of dorsal wings on its tail, probably used for steering and gliding, along with another set closer to its hips. Its neck was long, and on its head rested five main points, the two largest being on the top right and left, just above its pointy, almost elf-like ears. The other three were at the top center and on either one of its cheeks, framing its long muzzle that was undoubtedly filled with sharp teeth.

  
In a word, it was magnificent.

Connie’s eyes widened as she took it all in, her breathing growing lighter, but more drawn out in awe. The beast was probably three times her size, and there was no doubt about the strength it must hold in its joints. But any and all sense of fear was washed away.

The logical side of Connie began chanting that she needed to go back to town and get help. She was in way over her head with this one, and the town would be able to take care of it! She just needed to maybe weigh it down to keep it there for sure and make sure it didn’t walk off on her. But the logical side was quickly silenced by every other side of her all at once. She was not backing down now. She came out here to find a dragon and get answers, and that was _exactly_ what she was going to do.

It was asleep. Perfect.

No doubt shining the light on it would eventually wake it up, Connie pulled her flashlight down. She shook her phone, which shut the beam off altogether. She then took a breath and slowly, deliberately, began to fully climb the hill and scale it down.

Now, Connie Maheswaran had approached dragons before. She had even gotten to pet one. She’d almost been burned or charred or even eaten by dragons before, but none of that mattered now. All other times she managed to get close had only prepared her for this meeting. All sense of fear was gone, only straight-minded facts and knowledge about how to approach a dragon, what to do, what not to do, and different things she’d picked up when reacting to them.

If it looks at you, stay loose to make it seem like you’re not a threat. Wave at it. Maybe even say hi. If it doesn’t chase you away, then you can continue to approach. Make sure the dragon knows all of your movements and has a clear way of knowing your intentions. Let it know you mean no harm. Keep a respectful distance. If the dragon wants you to come closer, it will go to you, not the other way around. If it leaves, _let it._

However, everything was different now. She’d never caught a dragon asleep. This was all exciting and new.

First of all, approach. If she let the beast know she was here, that would mean waking it up, and she wasn’t very willing to find out if it was a grouchy morning bird or a drowsy one. So caution and stealth seemed to be the best approach.

She gently placed her feet down, calculating her weight and her movements with every step. This seemed to pay off, as she got within three feet of the creature, and so far, she wasn’t lunch. She sighed in relief, glad she made it this far.

Second, once the dragon knows you’re there, you have to make sure it knows you’re not a threat. Well, there was a major problem with that one. Connie realized quickly she was inexperienced here, no matter how many other dragons she’d approached in the past. They had all been _awake._ Awake dragons were becoming predictable and readable. _Sleeping_ dragons were a whole new thing for her.

Should Connie wake it up? There was no telling what it would do to her if she did. No, it was better if the beast knew she was there on its own so she didn’t startle it. Startling feral creatures was never a good idea, they could breathe fire or not.

She had _found_ the dragon. That had been her goal the entire time, and she had done it!

…Now what?

Connie brought a hand to her chin. She reeeeally should have thought this through more. She never even considered that it might be asleep. Something inside her felt that this was all off somehow, but she couldn’t put her finger on why.

There were still a few hours before daybreak. This was a relatively flat area. Maybe she could wait for it to wake up on its own? That seemed like the smartest option. The only problem with that was Connie was too tired to stay up all night waiting for it. She’d fall asleep, too.

Well, who said sleeping was a bad idea? She was just going to sleep anyway, no matter what she did. Plus, it would be better to have a clear head dealing with this thing than a drowsy one. Now she just needed to make sure she was in a spot where, if it woke up before her, it couldn’t get to her. Being breakfast for this guy wasn’t exactly on her bucket list.

She picked a spot on top of a nearby rock, which was easy to get onto from behind as it jutted out of another hill. It was flat on top and coated in moss, making it a cushiony alternative to the ground.

Inside her backpack was all sorts of survival necessities, including a sleeping bag, a canteen of water, some matches, a knife, and a thick book detailing all the edible and non-edible plants in Delmarva, along with a few other items as well. She pulled out the sleeping bag and spread it out, laying on top of it (since it was so hot) and stared up at the sky.

The sounds of the dragon’s soft breathing lulled her to rest soon enough, and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The ringing of a bell drowned out the ringing of the phone. Priyanka looked up at it, sitting in the center of town just in front of her. It was _loud._ Instinctively, she brought her other hand up to her ear to block out the noise.

Dawn was approaching, and still, Connie had not answered her phone. Most of the time, it went straight to voicemail, meaning it was either dead or didn’t have a signal. Neither option sounded good right now. Doug had gone in search of Connie two hours ago, but hadn’t come back again other than to see if Connie had answered her phone yet or come back. The answer had been no both times, so out he went.

The phone was finally ringing now, but it was cut short. Was she ghosting them? Or did she just loose service again? Where was she that the signal was that spotty? Priyanka groaned, bringing the phone away from her ear once again.

As she did so, her own phone buzzed with a notification. The doctor swiped the top down to view them, the top one being a message from Doug.

**DOUG** ❤️: I haven’t found anything. She might be going to the hall

 **ME:** Sounds good. Meet you there.

Priyanka sighed, hoping to whatever deity could hear her that Connie was sensible enough to head to the Hall. That’s what the bell had been for; someone called a meeting in the Town Hall, or in Beach City, the center square. People just started calling it the Hall since that’s where all meetings happened to take place. Priyanka was already there, and could see the statue of the great William Dewey, founder of Beach City, from the bench she sat on.

She didn’t need to wait long for people to get here. A lot of people already were. It was practically mandatory that a town meeting be called right after an attack. It was a good way to do a headcount, get a full scope of the damage, and touch base with the town leaders.

The Gems arrived shortly after. Priyanka could see Garnet’s large… was that an afro?- and Pearl’s short pointy hair poking up above the crowd. A third head also followed along, the multicolored dreads announcing Bismuth’s rare presence as well. She knew that Amethyst was more than likely with them, too, and noted she could see her purple physique through the legs of the crowd. The gems made for the center, the crowd parting for them as they went.

Bismuth was the town blacksmith, and her rainbow dreads could be identified from anywhere. She stood with her fellow gems, too, though at more of a distance, showing she was with them, but more out of power than they were. She was more closely aligned with the townsfolk. She had power over them, sure, but she was usually off in her forges making weapons and fixing already-existing ones, meaning she wasn’t as in-the-know as the other three.

Footsteps plodded along quickly behind the doctor. Turning, she saw Doug Maheswaran panting up to her, jogging so quickly it was borderline a run. He slowed to a stop behind her, letting out a “whoo” of air once he was able to breathe again, and placed a hand on the bench for support.

“Any sign of her yet?” Doug asked, meeting his wife’s eyes worriedly.

Priyanka shook her head, glancing at her phone sadly. “Not yet. She better pick up soon or so help me-“

“Citizens of Beach City,” a commanding voice called out. All sidebar conversations quieted as all eyes came to rest on Garnet. She stood upon a raised platform built next to Dewey’s statue, standing with the confidence only a leader could portray. “You know why we’re here. How many casualties do we have?”

A few hands raised in the air. The family for who Priyanka had helped earlier that night also volunteered someone to raise a hand in the man’s place, giving an accurate count even though he was currently not present. Scanning the crowd, Priyanka could see that several families were doing the same.

All in all, about ten hands were in the air.

“Would all who have been injured or represent a casualty come this way, please?” Pearl raised her hand, waving for the people to follow her. A portion of the crowd broke off, following the gem so they could detail what exactly happened and how bad it had been. She procured a notepad from her gem, along with a pen, planning to document everything.

Once the humans who raised their hands had split off, Garnet turned to the rest of the crowd. “Is anyone still missing?”

Priyanka raised her hand, then quickly noted that she was the only one who had done so.

Garnet looked in her direction, noting immediately who it was that had her hand raised. “Connie Maheswaran?”

The exhausted mother gave a brief but deliberate nod.

Garnet hummed in thought. “Did anyone see Connie last night?”

Both Pizza twins, Bismuth, and a few others raised their hands, along with both Maheswarans themselves.

“Did any of you see her get taken or have any idea where she could be?”

Everyone except the Maheswarans shook their heads no.

Priyanka spoke up. “Knowing her, she may be out researching the corrupted gems again.”

Garnet brought a hand up to her chin, then looked to Bismuth. “Remind me to get a team looking for her once this meeting is over.”

Bismuth gave a nod. “Sure thing.”

“Now, how many-“

“How many _monsters_ did y’all get?” Amethyst interrupted her, jumping up on the pedestal with Garnet. The smaller gem brought her fist into her hands, grinning at the crowd.

Her energy was contagious, as the people gathered began to smile as they recounted battles they’d fought and won. Many hands went up, some with gems in their grasp, others holding up fingers counting the number of gems they’d poofed. Priyanka could see the gemstones gleaming in the moonlight and the dim light from the oncoming sunrise. They were a rainbow of prizes, with splotches of unnatural colors for that gemstone splayed on their surfaces, betraying their corrupted state. There were many, and the crowd whooped and cheered at the sheer number of enemies they’d taken on and defeated last night.

Garnet commanded to bring all gemstones forth, and all three remaining gems began to bubble them. The gem was placed in the guardian’s hands, and they would create a bubble around it. The color of the bubble told which of their leaders took care of that gem. Then, they’d touch the top of the bubble and it would vanish. According to Pearl, they were then sent off to the Temple, where they were put away and kept safe.

Thirty or more gems got bubbled, earning massive respect from the gems and meaning that the dragons were becoming less and less numerous. They couldn’t have children, and so there was a set number of corrupted gems in the world. It was only a matter of time before they had them all. The people of the world were now that much closer to being _free._

Garnet stood back up on the pedestal, addressing the full crowd again. “Does anyone have anything else to say?”

There was a collective shake of heads.

Garnet touched her visor before looking back to the crowd. “Then this meeting is over. Bismuth, the Maheswaran family, come with me. Anyone else who would like to help out with the search to find Connie Maheswaran, also stay back.”

As people began to break off to go start repairing the town, the center emptied out quickly. Most people were ready to sleep the day away, or at least get a few more hours in, after such a rough night. Repairs to buildings would more than likely commence in the morning. Once the crowd had gone, it was only the Gems, the Maheswarans, a few others who wanted to assist in the search, and one other man standing in the center of town.

Pearl eyed the man with undisguised coldness. “Hello, Greg. What brings you here?”

Greg Universe was an odd one. Priyanka had only met the guy a few times, but she had always been far from impressed. He tended to keep to himself but was friendly enough. He ran a car wash, but could often be seen slacking off or sleeping outside during work hours. He didn’t seem the responsible type either, and usually gave advise that followed the lines of “if you’re in over your head, quit.” On paper, it wasn’t bad advice at all, but in Priyanka’s experience, a mindset like that could get innocent people killed.

Greg wasn’t a doctor, though, so she wasn’t too upset about it. He lead an easy lifestyle out of a van, and not everyone could live like that. She herself just didn’t think that was a very good lifestyle for anyone at all, but it was his life, not hers.

Greg took a few steps closer to the maroon gem and her companions, eyeing the paler of the four warily. “Hey, Pearl. I just thought I could help out with the search. I’ve got a bit of experience under my belt, so. Y’know.”

Pearl’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say anything else. Priyanka found herself not quite trusting his explanation, either. Greg was nice, but he didn’t seem like the type to volunteer for this stuff unless there was a specific reason.

Garnet touched her visor again, a tick Priyanka found her doing often. “Sure, you can head the mission,” the gem announced after a moment. “The team could use your experience.”

“Thanks, Garnet.” Greg looked over at the couple and gave them a sheepish smile. “If you don’t mind me taggin’ along, anyway.”

Doug shook his head before Priyanka could answer. “The more the merrier. Thank you, Greg.”

The other man visibly relaxed, letting out tension the doctor hadn’t even realized he’d had. Usually, she was really good at reading people, so the fact that she hadn’t noticed made her uneasy. Was it just the fact that she barely knew him, or had she not been paying attention?

Garnet looked down at Amethyst, who was still standing next to her. “Amethyst, go with them. You can search from the skies while also keeping a lookout for trouble.”

The purple gem lazily brought a hand up to her forehead in a mock salute. “Aye aye, captain.” Her form suddenly began to glow white, and after just a second, her entire body had changed shape into that of a purple barn owl. She spread her wings and flapped up to perch on Garnet’s shoulder. “Just tell me when we’re goin’.”

“If I may,” Priyanka spoke up, holding her phone above her head. “I’ve been calling Connie all night since the attack ended, and most of the time it goes straight to voicemail. She may be somewhere with low or zero phone service, which tells me she’s out in the woods somewhere.”

“Hey look! She _does_ have brains!” Amethyst declared suddenly, pointing a wing in the doctor’s direction. “Quick, someone get ‘er a prize!”

Priyanka felt a flicker of anger in her chest at the gem, but kept her face neutral.

“Amethyst!” Pearl glared daggers at the smaller gem. “Don’t make fun. She’s giving us valuable and helpful information we can use to track Connie down.”

“I know that, P. I’m just havin’ a little bit of fun.” She scoffed. “Killjoy.”

Pearl growled at the smaller gem, opening her mouth to make some kind of snappy comeback, but was silenced by a raise of Garnet’s hand. In her palm sat one of her two gemstones, the other on her opposite palm. “That’s enough, you two. Thank you, Priyanka. The search will commence as soon as everyone is ready to go.”

There wasn’t a lot of people here, Not counting the gems, Maheswarans, or Mr. Universe, there were only two people left.

“Do you need to get everyone gathered again?” Doug asked, eyeing the bell warily.

Priyanka had to agree that their numbers were small, but she wasn’t sure how many other people would be willing to risk a good night’s sleep over finding a stranger they barely know. Not to mention, Connie didn’t have the best reputation, either, what with her always going in search of the beasts and dragging them back to town with her when they inevitably chased her.

Garnet shook her head. “No. If this were a bigger or more urgent problem, then maybe. But Connie hasn’t been taken; someone would have seen it or heard it. Therefore, she is more than likely off messing with dragons again, as Dr. Maheswaran suggested. We just may need to defend her, but other than that, she’s in no danger.”

Priyanka placed her hands on her hips, glaring with all the mistrust of a mother. “How do you know that?”

Garnet smiled, placing her hand near her visor. “Future vision.”

Ah yes. She kept forgetting Garnet had that. That was what made her the leader- she had the ability to view different timelines and futures heading forward, giving her the best idea of what choices were good and which ones would only result in disaster. It was a powerful ability to have.

The doctor relaxed, but only just. “Okay. So we just wait for the word to head out?”

Garnet nodded, giving a hum of affirmation. “In case Connie comes back, I’d like someone to remain here. Pearl, you’re on lookout duty.” The gem in question gave a quick nod, looking to her leader with purpose. “Bismuth, you start helping out with repairs where you can.” Bismuth gave a thumbs up. “Greg, you and your team decide where to focus the search. I will head into the Temple.” Garnet got down off the pedestal, heading in the direction of the hill that overlooked the town. “If anyone needs me, come to the beach house.”

The gem leaped into the air, vaulting over buildings until she landed somewhere beyond the doctor’s watchful eye.

Greg put his hands on his hips, gaining a determination Priyanka had never seen from him before. “Welp, you heard the gal,” Greg smiled. “Let’s head out! Though, Mr. and Mrs. Maheswaran, could I have a word with you two for a sec first?”

The couple looked at each other, a silent conversation carrying between them for only a second. Doug won, turning to Greg with a small, welcoming smile. “Sure, come on over here.”

Priyanka crossed her arms, watching the other man stride over. It was only when Greg was closer to them did she see the stress lines carving bags under his eyes, or the tiredness in his expression. His brows had a slight crease to them, betraying his worry, and his form was still relatively tense. In short, the man looked like he needed a good night’s rest.

“Hey, so uh, I don’t really know how to start this, but I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” Greg began. His hand came up to scratch behind his head, probably out of nervousness, and his eyes darted to look at anything but their faces. “I never took the time to get to know you guys or your daughter at all, but I know how it can feel to worry about your kid’s safety. My son used to be the same way.” Nostalgia flashed across his eyes, his mouth lifting in a smile as he recalled memories of a time long ago. He looked at the couple now, bringing his hand down to grip his opposing arm. “The gems always get into crazy stuff, and Steven was always along for the ride. It was hard, knowing he was always running into danger and I couldn’t do anything about it. So if there’s anything I can do, you let me know, kay?”

So _that’s_ what this was about.

Priyanka had only formally met Steven twice, though she’d witnessed the kid in action several times. He had been able to create a shield out of thin air, encase himself in a solid, near-impenetrable bubble, and supposedly had spit that could heal people(?). He was all smiles and joy, but took other’s emotions and injuries very seriously. He hadn’t been that old, either, when he vanished. He’d been only 12, maybe 13. Much too young to be getting into the stuff he had been doing.

Greg understood them and wanted to help them. Priyanka felt her heart lift, her suspicions beginning to melt away. She didn’t suddenly trust his every move or come to like him, but she couldn’t deny that she was grateful for his willingness to help make sure no child was ever taken from their family again.

Doug got the same message. He reached out and took Mr. Universe’s hand, meeting his eyes. “Thank you, Greg,” he said earnestly. “We’ll let you know.”

“This means a lot to us,” Priyanka chimed in, bringing her own hand to rest on top of the pair’s.

Some cloud seemed to lift over Greg’s head, as his smile turned more genuine, turning into a grin. “Then we don’t have much time to loose.” He looked over at the other two people, waving them over, then turned back to the couple. “If you’re right, then Connie will be in the woods somewhere. Does she have a preferred spot she likes to go?”

The pair thought for a moment. She often ran off near the residential part of the town, as when she came back with a dragon in tow, it seemed to always be near someone’s house, convenient for catching on fire. She also liked to head off along the beach.

“Near the residential area or along the beach,” the doctor answered.

“She also tends to go far in,” Doug added. “She’ll probably be pretty deep back there.”

Greg nodded, bringing a hand up to his beard in thought. “Then we split up. Amethyst will be in the sky above us, so she’ll be able to keep an eye on both groups at the same time. I’ll head one team. Do one of you want to head the other?”

Priyanka raised her hand halfway. “I’ll do it.”

Greg snapped his fingers at her, forming a finger gun. “Gotcha. You wanna take the town or the beach?”

By now, the other two people and Amethyst had gathered around, too. Doug took a step forward ahead of their little circle. “I know the beach pretty well. You and I could do that.”

Priyanka hummed in agreement. “Then I’ll take my team behind the housing.”

“Sounds good.” Greg put his hands on his hips again, looking almost proudly at the group gathered before him. “Alright, y’all, here’s the plan!”

As Greg began to restate what they’d just established, Priyanka found herself wondering what else she didn’t know about this guy. She must have seriously misjudged him if she’d never expected to see him take control of something like this. She wasn’t about to organize a hangout or anything, but she found herself relaxing around him. When did he get to Beach City? Why did he stay? How did he manage to make it work with one of their protectors, a gem she’d never gotten to meet? What made him special?

She realized with a jolt that she’d never put two and two together until just now that this was Steven Universe’s father, and therefore this was the man who’d had an affair with Rose Quartz. Rose was supposedly the most powerful of the gems here, and the town leader before Garnet had been. She knew all those facts, of course, but she’d never really made it connect that the guy who’d fallen in love with what was practically a goddess could also be the dude who ran the car wash.

What a world to live in.

Once everyone else was filled in, the team split. Amethyst, still shapeshifted into a barn owl, flew up and ahead of the two groups as they began heading in different directions. The goal was to search until either 8 AM, whenever their legs got tired, or until they found Connie.

The mother could only hope her daughter had an amazing explanation for why she had gone dragon hunting in the middle of an attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: I am still plotting out this story right now. I don’t have everything, though I do have all the backstory before this point. After this, I have a bunch of ideas and the ghost of a straight line we can follow, along with the next few chapters, but then I’m out. So if I go back and retcon anything, I will let you know.
> 
> I haven’t needed to yet, but I just wanted to be sure I said that early on before anything major happens and I go “WhOoPsIe dAiSy!!1!11” I don’t think that’ll happen, but you never know.
> 
> Anyways, say hi to Greggo! All these characters will be based off their late-Season 1 characterizations, so Pearl and Amethyst are still fighting, Garnet is closed off, Amethyst is immature, Pearl still is clinging to Rose’s memory in a very unhealthy way, and she and Greg split The Salt between them, with Greg on the receiving end. Though due to Steven’s absense, things will be slightly different. Greg’s a bit more of a hermit now, and Pearl has other “dead” family members to obsess over. Though she never got close to Steven, either, so. She still cared about him, a LOT, but not as much as she grows to in the series. 
> 
> Point is, welcome to Everyone Needs a Nap time, and only two characters are currently getting it.
> 
> Leave a comment if you enjoyed, and tell me your predictions! I’d love to hear them!


	4. The Downed Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie finally confronts her prize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, before we dive in, I just wanted to say thank you for being patient. I owe y’all a couple of chapters, I know, but this one kicked my butt. I had to rewrite a couple of times just because Connie’s actions here didn’t make sense upon being reread. 
> 
> That being said, if anything she does here seems odd or out of character, PLEASE let me know! 
> 
> I am also looking for a beta reader. More info in the notes at the bottom.

_He awoke for a fifth time. Light from the sun filtered down through the trees, bathing the grassy area in dappled golden splotches. Birds sang from above, waking the whole forest with their music._

_It wasn’t the kind of music he liked, though. He liked… different music. He couldn’t remember what the differences between bird song and his old song was, but it sounded better. He could remember a different voice, a softer voice compared to the shrill shriek of birds. The voice held a tree stump in his hands with thin leaf-stems made of a hard, shiny material. When his paw flicked a leaf-stem, it made a noise._

_He liked that noise. He liked the voice, too._

_What had they been doing? He remembered his own paws flicking across his own tree stump, but much smaller and more brightly colored. He and the voice sang together, each flicking their leaf-stem tree stumps and creating a beautiful harmony._

_His head was on its side, and he forced it to roll over. He forced his eyes open._

_The pain was still too much. He needed to get out of here. Sharptooth would not appreciate him staying here, doing nothing, and neither would Rivereye. But, he couldn’t move. His grassy, tight, uncomfortable entrapment was still there, keeping his legs pressed firmly to his body. One of his wings was free, but he couldn’t move it much._

Help! _He cried out._ I’m trapped! Someone help me!

_His pleas echoed through the forest. But no one came to him._

_He’d just need to keep trying. He yelled out once more, his voice strained and weak._

Someone help me…

* * *

The first thing Connie took note of was the fact that it was morning. Her face was lying directly under a sunbeam, and the light from above forced her eyes open, temporarily blinding her before her hand could come up to shield the light away.

The second thing she was aware of was the dull pain in her back. Turns out, this spot wasn’t as flat as she’d thought it was the previous night. Oh, well. That’s nothing a good walk-off couldn’t fix.

Lastly, the forest was _loud._

Birds and squirrels yelled at each other overhead, some in pleasant greeting, others probably in offense or anger. There was another noise, too, one that didn’t seem like it really belonged. It was a low sound, weaker than the birds but loud nonetheless. If Connie didn’t know any better, she’d say it was a cry of pain, but she wasn’t fully aware of what could be making that noise.

It only took a few seconds for the events of last night to catch up with her, though.

Her eyes shot open. Scrambling to her side, the teen rocketed into an upright position. She peered over her rock and down at the clearing below.

Somehow, by some miracle, the Night Snatcher was still there. It hadn’t moved at all, not really. The biggest movements it had made was the flapping of its one free wing against the dirt pile, the small swings of its tail, and its head, which was now lifted skyward. The dragon let out a low cry, sounding something akin to a howling wolf, but deeper and more scratchy. It didn’t sound like it belonged in these woods at all, and made the creature seem even more out of place than it already was.

It was right here, unable to go anywhere, and by the looks of it, unable to attack. That meant Connie could go forth with a little less caution that usual! For compensation, though, she decided to constantly have her guard up in case it made a sudden move.

She reached for her phone, hoping to take a picture, but stopped short when she realized the phone was completely unresponsive. When she tapped the power to turn it on, it just showed static, harsh white noise playing back at her. Connie tilted her head to the side, deciding to try turning it off and back on again. No result- the static was still there.

Besides, her parents saw all of her pictures (or so they said, but she didn’t really want to test that statement right now), and they’d probably be a bit interested in how she’d met a Night Snatcher. It would be much better to not take a photo until she had a camera separate from her phone anyways.

Instead, she pulled out her notebook and began a sketch. Her art skills were not great- not by a long shot- but it was enough to just get the basic idea of what the dragon looked like. She made side notes as well, labeling its dorsal fins, its hip wings, its spines, its wings, the five horns that framed its face, its long neck, and anything else she found interesting. It was difficult since it was bunched up in a net and squirming, and it took her a while to map out correctly.

It continued to cry out as she worked. It was frustrating, since she couldn’t see the whole dragon nor its gem, but she wanted to finish her sketch before she approached in case something happened. She wanted as much info as she could get.

It took her about twenty minutes to finally be satisfied with her work enough to close the notebook. Now, it was time for some answers. She put her notebook back in her backpack, zipped it up, and slung it over her shoulder.

Step 1: Approach.

Connie crawled off her sleeping bag, her back crying out in protest. She let her feet dangle over the outcropping, then slid off. She landed on the sloping hill, which had been less than a foot down from where she’d been at, and began to make her way down.

Step 2: Let the dragon know you’re not a threat.

It seemed very content to shout to the world, and hadn’t noticed Connie yet. She was now on flat land, and getting steadily closer. If she got too close before it noticed her, she could startle it. She stopped, giving it a wave. She went big, practically swinging her arm over her head as she tried to get its attention.

It saw her. Its head turned to face her quickly.

They locked eyes.

The dragon’s were pitch black where the whites should have been, the light from the morning sun reflecting off of them almost beautifully. Its pupils were a dazzlingly bright pink, and if Connie didn’t know any better, she’d say they were glow-in-the-dark. They were shaped to be thin slits, reminding her of a frightened or angry cat.

The dragon’s bellowing ceased, and its movements stilled. It took what felt like a whole minute for it to even blink (though in real time, it may have been ten seconds? Still a long time). Connie felt herself reacting similarly. Her body was frozen as she stared the beast down.

The beast was a very dark magenta color, with lighter shades of pink on the skin between fingers on its wings. Its claws and horns were a grey color, but also tinted pink. There didn’t appear to be any corruption spots on it, which was odd, but not unheard of.

As the two stared at each other, Connie could also begin to see smaller details; the crack in its left horn, the cut on its cheek, the scratches all down its left side. _It must have had a rough landing,_ Connie realized, remembering the broken branches flayed out across the ground not too far from here.

The dragon blinked twice, seemingly falling out of its stupor, before it whined at her. It looked at itself, thumping its tail on the ground and shifting a bit in its bindings. It then looked back at her, silently pleading with her.

_Release me,_ the dragon seemed to say.

And just like that, Connie’s heart began to burn with rage.

“No. No! I don’t wanna help you!” She scolded it. Its eyes went wider as its ears fell back against its head. It whined at her again, but she raised a hand to it. “No, be quiet! I want answers, dragon. You don’t deserve to be helped.” _You stole Steven away._

It looked like the dragon had been slapped in the face. It looked at Connie, eyes still wide, before the lids closed to half-lidded, and it loosened up. Its gaze drifted to the ground, and it laid its head back down, defeated.

Connie huffed. “That’s what I thought.” She took a deep breath, calming herself. She needed to be in a good state of mind for this. If she were mad, then she could become biased, or miss something important. She tended to focus on the negative while mad, and that wasn’t going to help her get the answers she was looking for.

She walked closer, confident this dragon wasn’t going to attack her. In fact, it looked like it was resigned. It wasn’t going to attack her anytime soon. So, she sat down just outside its head’s radius, crossing her legs. She sat up tall, confident. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this confident.

“So,” she began, taking off her bag to get her notebook again, “you’re the Night Snatcher, huh?”

The dragon didn’t reply, but instead looked up at her with those… _weird_ eyes. They were shaped almost symmetrically, and they looked like they had sharper edges than a cat’s eye. Connie would even go as far as to call them a textbook diamond shape. They dilated a bit smaller than they had been before.

Connie tapped her pencil against the notebook’s side, sighing. “Well, you do look exactly like Pearl said you would. I was just expecting you to be more… dangerous.”

At the word “Pearl,” the dragon’s ears lifted a bit. Connie raised a brow at that, jotting down a note for later.

_Potentially knows Pearl or has a connection to the word._

“So you know Pearl, then?”

The dragon blinked at her, and offered no other confirmation. Connie decided not to write down anything new after that.

Her eyebrows began to draw together. “Do you understand English at all?”

The dragon cocked its head to the side a bit, but after that offered nothing else of any use. Its eyes drifted to look at something else other than the angry human interrogating it.

Connie growled. “Fine. If you can’t understand English, then we’ll have to just figure out some way to talk, yeah? ‘Cuz I’m NOT leaving until I know what exactly you did to Steven Universe that night.” She leaned forward a bit, giving the beast a cold glare.

The dragon’s focus snapped back to Connie. It lifted its head again, becoming eye level with her. If Connie knew any better, she’d say that it seemed like the beast was looking at an old friend, or something akin to it. A realization of something crossed its face. It leaned forward, craning its neck to give her a sniff. The look on its face became more exaggerated, and its eyes went wide.

Connie leaned away from the beast again, her expression morphing into one of distrust and wariness. Why was it suddenly acting like they were pals or something? “What are you doing?” Connie growled at it. “No! Get back!” She waved her notebook at it, smacking it on the nose.

The dragon’s head shot straight up. Connie realized a little too late that she may have just made a mistake. She shielded herself with her arms, squeezing her eyes shut and looking away.

But, an attack never came. She slowly opened one eye, gazing at the dragon again.

It hadn’t moved. Its neck was still high in the air, looking almost guilty. It reminded the girl of the dragon she and Steven had met that one time, how it had reared its head back to get a better look at the two children. Connie thought it had been poised to attack, but then it never did. That was right before Steven, being the lovable, trusting, huggable idiot he was, decided to befriend the beast.

This dragon was doing the same thing.

At once, Connie’s unease slipped away. Well, for the most part. She relaxed, and rolled over a bit so that she was fully facing the beast. She was leaving herself exposed. If the dragon wanted to attack her, it now had every chance to do so.

But it didn’t. Instead, it tilted its head to the side, letting out a strained sound akin to a mewl. Its eyes softened, and its head came down just a little bit.

_I mean no harm._

Connie sat up again, then shifted into a standing position. She took a few, cautious steps closer, to which the dragon shifted away from her just a tiny bit. She extended a hand, noticing and hating the fact that she was shaking. The dragon blinked at her again, and seemed to realize what she was doing. It brought its head a little closer.

 _It’s okay,_ Connie thought to herself. _They only attack when they have a reason to. The only reason it might is because it’s caught, but it would have done so by now._ Even so, she could feel herself tense up and begin to sweat. _It’s okay,_ she practically yelled at herself. _It’s okay._

When Connie didn’t shift away, it let her touch it.

Its cheek was rough and scaly, but surprisingly warm. There was dried blood on its left cheek, flowing from the scratches there. Connie took the opportunity to wipe the trails away. Its cheek horns were smooth and sharp, but not as sharp as she was expecting them to be. They were almost round at the tips. Its breath was hot and wheezing.

Connie’s distrust started to fall away. She brought both hands up to the beast, stroking a surprisingly soft ear. “It wasn’t you, was it?” She murmured. “You never hurt him at all.”

The dragon whimpered. It shut its eyes, looking away from her. Was it guilty? Upset? Did it matter? She wasn’t sure. It pulled its head from her grasp, trying to twist its head towards its body. The whimpering continued, getting more intense each time. It began rubbing its cheek against itself, hissing in pain as it touched its wing.

Connie realized what it was doing.

She reached for her bag again, quickly digging out a small knife. It was a survival knife, made specifically for situations just like this. She took it and began to quickly slice through the netting binding it in place. The knife cut through cleanly, and it only took three cuts before there was enough wiggle room for the dragon to fully open its wing and extend its left forearm.

It began clawing at the ground, groaning and growling in pain as it jostled. It hoisted itself up, and the rest of the net fell away.

The dragon was free.

At full height, it reached up a bit less than twice Connie’s height. Its wings could stretch even farther than that. It stood on shaky legs, and fumbled for a moment before standing taller.

Connie backed up a bit on instinct. _Idiot!_ It was free now! What if it had just been trying to play to her emotions? It could now attack her if it wanted! Would it? Was it just being nice before?

_Was this how it had managed to kill Steven?_

When the dragon looked at her, she backed up, frowning as that last venomous, dark thought crept into her mind. Could it be true? If that was the case, then she was in a lot of danger. She didn’t know how to fight!

She should have waited to catch it. She should have spent more time perfecting her net, which was still up on the hill! That would have given her more of a chance to convince her parents to sword fight, so now she would have a defense. But nope! Now she might die. Good job, Connie, Steven would be _so_ proud!

She held the knife out in front of her, vowing to not go down without a fight. She was going to run back towards Funland and get help. The dragon was still injured (unless it had been faking), and so would probably follow at a slower pace.

The dragon’s eyes went wider at the sight of the weapon. It let out a confused sound, then took a few steps away from _her._ It lifted a paw up, poised to dart away. The pose reminded Connie of a deer, frozen and watching for a sign that it needed to run.

It _still_ wasn’t going to attack her. She looked at the knife, too. It shone in the sunlight, the blade growing steadily brighter and dimmer as the leaves overhead played with the lighting. She lowered it a bit, then fully. She sighed in defeat.

“You know, you are really good at playing the victim, dragon,” she muttered. “One might think you’re innocent.”

Once again, the dragon only cocked its head to the side as an answer.

It then turned and began to lick its injured wing. It opened the joint to make it easier to reach, and Connie noted with horror that it appeared to be broken. Her eyes drifted down the rest of its side. Sure enough, its left hip wing also had tears in it, and- _oh jeez!_

It’s _entire left dorsal wing_ was _gone!_

Connie ran to it, hoping she was mistaken. But, upon getting closer, it was only more clear how messed up the base of its tail now was.

Only most of the tail wing was gone, with the first “finger” broken off almost entirely. Blood was spattered along the entire length of tail starting about a foot and a half from the tip, and its right tail wing was also damaged, just not nearly as badly as the left. At least the right was still functional. And _there._

She looked back up towards it’s face. It was still licking its broken wing, wincing in pain every time its tongue crossed over the section of bone that had been fractured. It didn’t seem to be doing anything, though, which made Connie’s heart pull in sympathy.

_I did this,_ she thought. _I hurt it._

“Hold on,” she told it in a soft tone. It paused its self-care, looking up at her for a moment. “I’m going to try and find a way to help you. You sit tight, okay?”

The dragon made a humming noise, and Connie took that as acknowledgement. She rushed back over to her backpack, digging through it in search of a med kit, only to come to the realization she’d left that at the house since she was out of bandages and needed a refill. No matter. Nature was equipped with all sorts of healing items, so Connie only needed to find the correct tools.

She scrambled away into the trees, searching for anything of use.

She came back about five minutes later with her arms filled with mosses, berries, and an assortment of flowers. She’d already made sure there were no bugs in any of this stuff, and even if there were, she didn’t think this creature would be too worried about that.

The beast stopped its licking to watch her curiously as she dumped everything on the ground. She could only hope she remembered everything correctly.

“Okay, I got moss and chamomile to stop the bleeding and infections,” she told it, not caring if it could understand her, “echinacea to start healing the wounds, poppy seeds to try and stop the pain, and I found a bush of strawberries nearby and I thought you might like them.” She quickly reached for the moss, holding it up to the now-openly-bleeding tail to try and stop the bleeding again. The beast’s licking it may have reopened it, or its moving around did.

She quickly made sure the tail was coated in healing, herbal medicine before moving up towards the broken wing. There wasn’t much she could do for a wound that severe besides make sure it wouldn’t get infected.

As she worked on the wing now, the beast watched her carefully. It seemed to have no guard, which was odd for a dragon. She gave it a side-long look, then sighed. “I don’t get it,” she murmured.

The dragon coo’d in response, waiting for her to continue.

“I just… everyone said that you’d be so mean,” she continued. “You were unpredictable. You attack everything- or nothing- in battle, you’re a menace, and- and you took Steven away.” Connie blinked, realizing a bit too late that her emotions were beginning to swell in her eyes. “So I came here, because Steven and I realized that you don’t attack for no reason. Nothing does. But you attacked him, so I…” she reached for the chamomile, setting the moss down. “I just want to know. Were you there that night? What happened? Like, what _really_ happened?” She looked up at it, her eyes watering and dangerously on the verge of crying.

It wasn’t fair. This would have been so much easier if this dumb dragon had been as mean and vile as everyone said. But it _wasn’t._ That was the _problem._

The dragon opened its mouth, as if trying to answer her, but it seemed to be just as lost for words as she was now. It looked away in shame.

Connie frowned slightly. “Was it you?”

The dragon’s head dipped beneath Connie’s eye level.

Connie’s frown deepened. “Was it you, beast?” She repeated.

The dragon whimpered under her glare.

“I… can’t believe it.” Connie moved her hand away from the dragon’s wing, not sure she wanted to continue to heal it. She brought her hands up to her head, clutching at her hair. “RAH! I don’t get it! Did you kill Steven or _NOT?!”_

The dragon once again shifted away from her, its ears falling flat against it’s head and expression flinching. The teen could practically feel the fear and anxiety radiating off of it. But, after a moment of nothingness, the beast’s expression morphed into one of confusion. It looked down its own nose, seemingly lost in thought.

Everything about this dragon existed to make Connie _frustrated._ She growled to herself, but decided that the least she could do was fix its wing. “Innocent until proven guilty,” she muttered to herself. She lost herself in her work again, just trying to make up for the damage to the beast’s wing as best that she could.

* * *

_It was strange. The human continued to get mad, then sad, then nervous, then mad, over and over again. Was it something he did? If so, then he wouldn’t be surprised. He tended to make everyone mad at him. It was kind of a nasty habit._

_Still, he wasn’t sure why she was being… so nice to him? She freed him from the grass-cage, she tried to Heal his tail, and now she was Healing his wing. He wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to do that, that it would make her feel better to just yell at him and walk away and he wouldn’t mind, but his selfishness wouldn’t let him do that. He liked that she had stayed._

_There was something familiar about her. He couldn’t place it, but he liked having her around, even if she was mad-sad at him. It was awfully familiar, uncomfortably so, but she was the first person to show him Kindness in a long, long time._

_Normally, other beasts and humans alike would run from him, or try to Hurt him (as was reasonable). But, there was something different about her. She smelled of familiarity, of smiles and joy. She smelled like a time long forgotten to him. But, he couldn’t place it. Was it that weird part of his memories that never seemed to come to him right? Was that where she was hidden?_

_Or maybe this was all a trick. Maybe she was going to Hurt him. Maybe the Healing was just a way of gaining his trust so she could destroy him without him fighting back. He hated feeling the unknown of all that._

_Every time she looked at him, he shrunk under her gaze. Her eyes were angry, and scared, and Hurt, and yet, she didn’t Hurt him back. She Healed him. Why?_

_What would Sharptooth and Rivereye do if they saw him like this?_

_It didn’t matter now. He wasn’t going to be able to fly for a long time, more than likely. Moving his wing too much made Pain. He couldn’t even feel his tail. He was grounded…_

Steven Universe. _Something about those noises stuck with him. He’d heard them before, but they were locked away in the parts of his memory he couldn’t reach anymore, the part he only saw flashes of in nightmares and in loose thoughts. Those noises made sense to him, at one point. What did they mean? Did they have meaning? He assumed they did, else they wouldn’t have left this big an impact on him._

_The human finished working on his wing, then bent down to pick up a Red Sweet. She offered it to him, cautious and ready to run away if she had to._

“Here. I know you’re a Gem and Gems probably don’t eat anything, but I thought you might like them anyways. I-I’ve seen other dragons eat before, so...” _She held more Red Sweets in her other paw, offering them to him. He didn’t understand what she’d said (though the sounds of “Gem” sounded familiar, too), but got from the tone of her voice that she didn’t want to Hurt him. She was kindly offering him food. Well, he was hungry._

 _He coo’d at her in thanks, then licked them out of her hand. She giggled,_ “eww” _ing and waving her hands around once the berries were gone and sticking out her own tongue. He found himself liking the sound of her laugh. It was familiar, too. Why was everything about her so familiar?_

_So safe?_

_So… comforting, even if she_ had _yelled at him every few moments. It felt nice to be around her._

_Against his better judgement, he found himself trusting her._

_Maybe she could Help him unlock his memories? She was so familiar to him, if only he could just put a paw on why!_

_He leaned forward, nudging her playfully in the side. Her laughter quieted, but didn’t stop for another few seconds. She then reached out to stroke his ear again, and he found himself purring against her._

“Okay, beastie. I really, _really_ don’t understand you,” _she chirped at him,_ “but you’re off the hook for now. Innocent until proven guilty, you know?” _She booped his nose, to which he huffed in fake annoyance at her. She sounded so nice… that was the nicest she’d sounded this whole time! Maybe things would get better? Maybe he could Fix her, or at least his relationship with her. They’d only just met, but they’d already gotten off on the wrong paw. Maybe if he hadn’t been stupid enough to get caught by that cage, she’d be less mad at him right now. So, the fact that she was already starting to be nice was good! Meant that he hadn’t completely lost his edge!_

_His entire left side still Hurt. That was the biggest thing right now. When he took a step forward, he fell a bit, and when he walked, he limped. The human continued to chirp at him, seemingly less tense now, and she half followed him around the area._

_He felt the fog and anxiety in his mind lift a bit. He was Hurt, and he was down for a while, but maybe he could fly again. If the human was willing to keep Healing him, maybe even soon, too. He felt his lips part in an awkward expression, but one that felt nice._ A smile, _his mind supplied from somewhere._

_He’d never done that before._

* * *

Connie watched with mild amusement as the dragon started practically prancing around the clearing. There was an obvious limp to its step, but the dragon didn’t seem to care. It’s odd eyes dilated in delight, and Connie noted that they were, in fact, shaped like diamonds. A bit odd, but she’s seen weirder from corrupted gems before.

Its mouth opened up and the edges of its lips curved upwards into what looked like the shadow of a smile as it met her gaze. It stopped moving, lifting its injured leg up and down a couple of times to really test it out. The dragon winced, but the smile didn’t fade.

She wondered why. How did the beast even know _how_ to smile? She’d never seen a dragon do that before.

Suddenly, her phone started buzzing off the hook. Pings from different apps started screaming at her, most notably her texting app. Connie jumped at the noise, then rushed to find her phone and dig it out of her pocket.

The dragon’s expression finally fell back into it’s neutral look, leaning more towards curiosity now. It ambled towards her slowly with its ears facing forward, reminding her briefly of a cat or rabbit. The beast made a low noise that lifted up in the end, making it sound like it just asked a question. She supposed maybe it did.

When she got her phone out and had stopped panicking enough to turn it on, Connie’s face fell at the sheer number of texts from her mom and dad. Apparently, she was grounded for a long while if she didn’t reply fast, and she’d better have a good explanation for being out so late.

“Uh oh,” Connie mumbled to herself.

The dragon’s head was suddenly over her shoulder, looking at the phone as well. She doubted it could make heads or tails of the thing, but she lifted it closer to the beast so it could have a better look. It blinked, then turned to her questioningly.

“My parents are looking for me,” Connie informed it. “I gotta go now.” She pocketed the thing so that she could go pack up. Her bag was on her back, so she just needed to climb up to her resting spot again and grab her sleeping bag, as well as anything else she’d left up there.

As she did so, the dragon watched her. Its head tilted to the side again, its ears falling around its head as gravity took over. Connie paused to look at it for a moment, and as she did, it laid down, never taking its eyes off of her.

That time, it reminded her of a dog.

“Oh, um, sorry, you can’t come with me,” Connie told it. “Everyone back home would absolutely try to poof you if they saw you. Everyone thinks you’re the Night Snatcher, remember?”

The dragon blinked at her, otherwise still unmoving.

Connie looked back at her work, zipping up the bag and slinging it over her shoulder. “I’m sorry. I tried to help you the best I can. Now get out of here, and don’t go near town. They’ll hurt you.”

The dragon’s eyes widened just a little bit, and its head straightened back out.

Connie slid from the rock the same way she’d done so earlier, and the dragon took the opportunity to approach. It began to sniff at her bag, and although Connie stiffened, she let it.

What would happen now? The Night Snatcher was either playing nice, innocent, or she had the wrong dragon. She wasn’t any closer to finding Steven, nor to getting answers- in fact, she may have been shoved even farther from the truth! This seemingly innocent dragon was now wounded, more than likely grounded, and completely exposed on the ground. If this _was_ an innocent dragon, then were was the _real_ Night Snatcher? Was it still out there, or did someone poof it a long time ago?

And what about this dragon? It seemed to recognize certain words, and _definitely_ perked up when she’d said Steven’s name, so it must know _something._ She can’t just leave it here!

…Can she?

She looked up at the beast. It was giving her a wide-eyed look, waiting for her next move. It was sat down on its haunches, exposing its chest to the world. No gem there, either. It tilted its head, cooing softly.

Connie looked past it, at the net laying on the ground.

She might get grounded for not responding right away, but she didn’t care. Getting Steven back was far more important than whatever short-term punishment they were going to give her.

She walked over to the net and began to cut and tie it, creating a long leash in about ten minutes. She wrapped the base around a thick-looking tree, and tied the other end around the dragon’s ankle on the right side. It didn’t fight her while she did that, which she found surprising, and decided to write that down when she got home. She had a _lot_ of stuff she needed to write down.

“Okay, beastie,” she started, finishing off her triple knot, “I need you in order to find out more about what happened to Steven. You are going to stay here.” She looked it in the eyes and gave it the Mom Point, waving a finger at it like she’d seen her own mom do so many times to her. “Plus, I can’t trust you not to follow me back to town. Trust me- leashing you here will work out for both of us.”

The dragon made a soft whine, but didn’t do anything else to protest. Instead, it just laid its head down, sighing deeply.

Connie found herself almost sorry for it.

But, she could save the pity parties for after she proved that she’d shot down an innocent dragon. For now, she pulled out her phone and frantically began to call her mom, but began to panic again once the ringing cut off after two rings. She’d lost signal again.

“I gotta go,” she murmured, not sure if she was talking to herself or the dragon. “I’ll see you later.”

With that, the human ran off, phone to her ear as she hoped beyond all hope her mom would be able to speak to her soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, if anything is weird, let me know.
> 
> Sorry this one is a bit shorter. I usually write 10 pages per chap, but this was only 9. Not going to promise I’ll make up for it, but if I can, I will. 
> 
> Also, about beta readers: If anyone would be willing (and can critique a work, offer advise, catch grammar mistakes, weird wording, and tell me when something doesn’t make sense), that would be great. Let me know either in the comments, or DM me on Tumblr! 
> 
> You can find me at @dimonds456 (my man account) or @how-to-train-your-monster! Either would be just fine, but please don’t send in an ask about this. DM me instead. 
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Remember to leave a comment. I consume them for energy, motivation, and power. Also, don’t be shy. I love reading theories, what you think about headcanons, headcanons you might have, and anything along those lines! I’d love to hear from you!


End file.
